Halo Fanfic
by Eaglestriker5
Summary: A young twelve year old lives a normal life in this world, and time...But things go awry when she travels to another... And when it comes to her. Destiny and fate throws her around like a ragdoll.
1. The Light Of Destiny

The light of destiny

A blinding flash was all I could see. All I could remember was a normal afternoon at my house….Wait. I could…see? I opened my eyes. I was in a large room, the walls and floors covered with metal plates. Neon lights lit the roof above my head. It looked like a holding bay of some sort. There were strange vehicles around me. Then I felt the cold touch of metal on my forehead.

I had only a second to take this all in. Then the gun. I moved my eyes up slowly, examining it. It looked like some sort of large pistol….Familar. Wait. It's a gun from the computer game I play, HALO. I wanted to see whoever my assailant was. Whoever it was, they were extremely tall. Then I tripped upon its - no, definitely _his_- face. The gaze fixing me was an unbelievable icy-blue. Cold. Calm. His mouth was a flat line, betraying no emotion. The white arm holding the gun had corded muscle all along its length. I returned to his face. He had very dark brown hair, verging on black, and a large scar travelled over his left eye and stopped somewhere under his chin. Then my panic kicked in. I did what my body wanted to do. I fainted.

I woke up sometime later, in a drab, grey room. There were no windows, so I didn't know where I was. I was lying on an uninviting grey metal slab. No _wonder_ my back ached. I got up and looked for a way out. I was extremely curious. That man holding the gun was strange. I saw some kind of blue light covering the door. It looked solid. Strange. Is light meant to be solid? I didn't think so. I charged the light and found to my surprise,

The light _was_ solid.

"What the…Ok….hard light…Hmm.."

I rubbed my bottom and face at the same time. The barrier deactivated and a man walked in, wearing some kind of ceramic armour. I knew this because its sheen made it look somewhat like a teacup's. I examined the man carefully. He had brown eyes and freckled white skin. Compared to the other man, the first one, this guy almost looked if he could be an ice-cream man. He was a lot shorter, too. I noticed an eagle on the right side of the breastplate. In small letters underneath it said "UNSC". It hit me like a lightning bolt and my brain automatically changed it to United Nations Space Command. The main military force in HALO.

The man spoke.

"The commander would like to see you."

He eyed me strangely. I didn't blame him, I _did_ appear outta nowhere. He turned and marched out. I found myself surrounded on all sides by people dressed likewise.

"So I heard you appeared in thin air?"

The figure who spoke had his back to me. I was in a small, slightly stuffy room with a window. Now I knew where I was. In space. On a spaceship. The only furniture occupying the room was a table and chair and a rather bored looking woman in white armour. (She was so still I counted her as furniture).

I reminded myself of who and what she was. She was the commander of the Spartan IVs. In Halo, Spartans are humans, but with kinda superpowers and tactics and stuff. Oh. And cool guns. _And _armour. There were four different Spartan programs, each with specific augmentations and other stuff I couldn't remember. The IVs were the latest, I remembered. Anyway, this is _the _Sarah Palmer. I couldn't believe she was standing right next to me. I felt tiny. No wonder why. She's almost taller than my dad.

"Who are you? Where are you from?" The figure turned around. His face wasn't unkind, though stern. He obviously fully realised he was interrogating a child. Brown hair, brown eyes. He would be quite boring if not for his character which oozed command and superiority. Then a jolt hit me. It was Thomas Lasky, commander of the UNSC Infinity, a huge spaceship. I couldn't believe it. I mentally kicked myself. Dur. Commander plus space equals spaceship commander.

"Hello?"

I started. I didn't realize my silence. Thomas was looking at me intently. Sarah seemed indifferent.

"Errm…..um….my names Emily…" I stammered.

"And can you tell me exactly how you got here?" He questioned.

"Well…I uh….i was in my room, reading…then I couldn't see then I ended up here."

"Where is your room?"

"In Australia….."

Lasky started.

"You came from Australia?"

"Yeah…..this might sound weird but….the year 2014 as well?"

I winced. I didn't know if he would take me seriously. He seemed to think for a moment. Sarah turned to look at me strangely.

"And how would I know you're not lying?

"These."

I pulled my book and iPod out of my pocket. He look strangely at the book, I realised most of their stuff is digitalised in Halo.

"You do realise the year is 2558?"

I had to lie. I didn't want them to know I already knew. This date was sometime after Halo 4, the newest Halo game.

"Errrmm….no."

I suddenly felt really tired. I yawned widely. Sarah gained a slightly amused expression. Lasky blinked.

BEEP BEEP! BEEP!-

"MUUUM! Five more minutes!" I yelled.

Then I remembered. I sat straight upright. Lasky had given me a room to sleep in, Sarah unceremoniously kicking the resident Spartan out. It was a simple thing. There was a desk, a chair, a bed and a bathroom. I looked for the sound of the alarm. A blue light emanated from the wall next to me and I turned to look. I almost fell out of my bed. A thirty centimetre tall woman stood on a raised pedestal. And she was BLUE. My mouth fell open. It was Cortana, the infamous A.I. from Halo. I recalled all I remembered on the subject….They live for about 7-8 years before their core processing started to break down. Cortana was a smart A.I. capable of thinking for herself and performing billions of calculations in less than a second. However, I remembered Cortana was different. She had been made from a cloned human brain and actually could have emotions, though her core processing attempted to deny it.

"Hello, Emily. The ships A.I., Roland, is a little busy at the moment, so I shall help you."

"I…errr….I'm hungry…" I muttered grumpily.

I wanted to scream that if I didn't eat soon I would likely eat my own pillow. Cortana didn't seem fazed, she grinned happily.

"The monitors in this room detected your blood sugars are quite low. However, I suggest getting clean first, as Spartan Sarah Palmer will be taking you on a tour of the ship. Lasky's order, of course."

"Hang on. If I had a shower….and you can monitor…"

Cortana beat me to it.

"The UNSC values their soldier's privacy, I believe."

Ugh. She was annoying. So smug.

I walked into the bathroom, closing the door.

"I hope you weren't lying!" I yelled.

I received an amused snort.

I followed the massive Spartan around, jogging slightly to keep up.

"Down that hall there, that's the armoury. That's where we store Spartan armour and guns."

She sounded rather bored. I supposed Lasky told her to show me some stuff. The Infinity is huge. She only showed me a small section, near my room. And already I was having trouble comprehending how big the Infinity is. Palmer walked out on a raised catwalk, extending above a huge room. It must have been at least a kilometre wide, and a hundred meters high.

"That's the aircraft bay." Palmer said indifferently.

It was filled to the brim with Pelicans, coming, going, being repaired. Pelicans were the UNSC's troop carrier. They sported a machine gun turret on the chin, as well as a laser cannon. They were at least as long as a house.

"Are you coming? Or is your brain still in 2014?" asked a cocky voice.

I jerked awake. I'd been so distracted…. Sarah was standing five meters away, tapping her foot. I ran to catch up. She walked through a long tunnel, and another large room awaited us. There were numerous Spartans, training, marching, testing their armour.

"This is what you would call a Spartan club. We come here to do all our main activities, when there is no war."

But I was interested in something far more awesome.

A huge, metal giant was walking toward us on the walkway. It was huge. Two meters, at least. It strode past, the grace and beauty far outstripping the clunky giant appearance. I looked up into the helmets visor. It was orange, with hexagonal lines. The rest of the armour was olive green, covered with chinks, chips and scratches.

I knew exactly what I was looking at.

The Master Chief.

I sat in my bed, thinking over the day. I still couldn't believe I was in the Halo universe, dimension, world…..whatever. Plus the fact I saw _him_. The Master Chief. The guy who, in the Halo world, had blown up numerous constructs….(particularly Halos) saved Earth, and killed some evil ancient alien dude. He is a Spartan II. They had a reputation for being….different. I remember staring up into the orange visor, seeing my own startled face reflected in it. I sighed. This was going out of control.

BEEP! BEEE-

"CORTANA _TURN_ THAT OFF!"

"Yes mi 'lady, whatever you say mi 'lady" Came the mocking reply.

I rubbed my sleepy eyes and got ready.

"You have been set a test today."

"Test?" My mouth turned dry.

"Yes, just so Thomas can see how well you've remembered Palmer's tour. You will be finding your own way to the lecture room."

"Great." I said sarcastically.

_1 hour later_

"Yay. This is just awesome"

I had gotten myself lost. Dammit!…..Should've taken a left turn…. I was under the catwalk that Palmer had shown me, amongst the Spartans. God, the amount of times I had almost been trampled was ridiculous. I had noticed a lot of the Spartan IVs had taken curious notice and watched me scramble around, some even laughing. But one exception didn't react at all.

_Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 watched the child dart about, tripping over various items and sometimes a stray foot. I did find it mildly amusing….she looked somewhat like a duck. What? Where had that come from? I nearly slapped myself. I probably should help her, although I was told she had to do it herself. The child grew too near for my liking, so I shrunk back into the shadows. I knew I was hard to see, anyway. I don't like the attention that comes to me if people know who I am. I want to be left alone, mostly. I watched intently as the girl came to a halt on the opposite wall. I can read people easily, but the young girl wasn't even trying to mask her emotions. My enhanced eyesight could clearly see she was completely stressed out, with a twinge of fear. I felt something….strange. Was that pity? I frowned. I genuinely wanted to help this child. I don't like the way Lasky and Palmer are….studying her. How could they not see the intelligent glimmer in her eyes, I could see clearly that she didn't need to be tested. Sometimes I seriously doubted my superiors. I obeyed them, of course, but sometimes I thought they made the wrong decisions. I was shocked at myself. I wanted to disobey a clear order to help a child that had appeared mysteriously in front of me out of nowhere. I made up my mind. I shifted so that the light would only reveal me to her. She picked me out instantly, focusing that gaze on me. _

_Good, I thought._

_She obviously recognised me. But she did something strange and completely unexpected. She stalked straight over and looked up at me with anger._

A small amount of surprise filled the giant man's eyes, but quickly evaporated back into nothingness. I knew I wanted to feel strong, because I knew I was scared out of my wits. I knew he probably wasn't allowed to help me, probably told not to, but hell, was I gonna try. But I cannot believe myself. I am glaring anger and defiance in the face of the man who had saved the galaxy. Multiple times. Not to mention he has killed thousands of aliens, has unbreakable bones, binocular vision, extreme hearing and can most likely lift a car and throw it. Then I realised the creepy effect of that brilliant blue gaze. It sent shivers down my spine. It was calculating. Cold. Extremely intelligent. I knew that if he wanted to, he could have killed half of everyone in this room before anyone noticed. I could not, didn't want to hold that gaze for any longer. I was no match.

I looked away.

_This child interested me like nothing else. I was not prepared for the girl to throw everything from the past days into that one glare. It was incredibly stupid on her part. Now I knew I had to help her. Thomas was delusional. This child was perfectly fine; she didn't need to be….examined. The thought of that disturbed me slightly. By now the girl had looked away. I was, to say. Quite impressed._

"So you gonna help me?" I growled angrily.

I was .

I watched John carefully. I was kinda scared. He towered over me, had muscles you wouldn't believe and just the glare from those _eyes_ was enough to send anyone running. I could tell he was thinking. Sometimes the undercurrents of thought appeared, as a slight tensing of his jaw or a blink. I sighed and began to walk away. Man I was disappointed. I, for some reason, wanted to impress Lasky. Strange. I wasn't even planning to _stay_.

A deep voice spoke. "I will help. But you cannot tell."

There it was. Short, sharp, to the point. But it was a "yes" nonetheless. I mentally punched the air with my fist. I trailed behind him, looking for landmarks but the twists and turns of corridors confused me and I gave up. The attention that everyone gave John was weird. It was a cross between reverence, fear and awe. I noticed that he stiffened up considerably when someone would talk about him when he passed. I understood, I hated attention too. Just then, I saw the sign with "lecture room" on it. I stepped forward and turned to say thanks, but no-one was there. I was amazed that someone of that size could disappear so completely.

"So, Emily. How much do you know of maths?" inquired Lasky.

How is this relevant? This was getting annoying.

"Errm…A lot I s'pose though I don't enjoy it.

"Times tables?" frowned Thomas.

I yawned.

"I'm in year seven"

"Equations? Algebra? Fractions?" continued Lasky.

"Been there. Done that. Seen it."

I was getting sick of this. All week it had been nag, nag, nag. And none of it was relevant!

Thomas sighed. It was laden with responsibility, doubt, and sadness. Something was troubling him.

"I'm getting someone to show you around the armoury properly. Sarah was….reluctant to agree to the tour, so I wasn't surprised you weren't shown everything."

Sarah smirked at me.

"Who?"

Damnit. Now I knew why. I had rounded the corner, almost smacking into a chest of solid muscle. Heck, I wasn't even sure if he wanted to do this for Lasky.

John was to show me the armoury.

_Emily looked betrayed. There was a small scowl on her face. I found it moderately amusing the serious posture she attempted to adopt. My size helped a bit, I pondered. Her clothes, deliberately shrunk, were still ridiculously big on her. She muttered under her breath, which I could hear clearly as if she had actually wanted me to hear._

"_Oooohh….Palmers in for it…"_

_She then attempted to look rough and tough. I laughed inwardly. She was extremely stubborn. She could make a good Spartan._

This man was infuriating. Anything I didn't understand was explained in short, sharp sentences. He wouldn't even answer my questions! It was like talking to a brick wall. I couldn't blame him, the training he went through and all that. The horrors he had seen probably didn't help either. But why, WHY did he have to be so tough to break.

"Would you _please,_ PLEASE let me ask you a question?"

Silence for a moment.

"You just did" he replied in a perfectly flat tone.

Smartass. I knew he was laughing at me, I just _knew _it.

"Discount that then." I muttered.

He seemed to agree, lowering his head a bit and looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

"So how do the Spartans take their armour off?"

"The machines."

The "machines" were almost like dentist chairs, but facing vertically. About ten arms extended about.

"So they just step up and their armour gets taken off?"

"Yes." came the crisp reply.

"Does their butt armour come off? Cause I'd sure like to kick Sarah's."

Was that a smile? I swear, the corner of his lips twitched slightly.

"Yes, although I would refrain from doing so…..yours may be included in the kicking."

I had to laugh. The completely serious tone was so funny to hear in such a silly sentence.

_I almost broke out into a smile. Almost. My years of training….and other things swallowed up the moment. This girl-this child- had the demeanour and characteristics of a feisty teenager. I couldn't help cracking some sort of joke. I didn't want, for some reason, to intimidate this child. I felt strange….was I getting fond of this child? I didn't know, I never really knew someone properly before they died._

I could clearly see the amusement in the gaze of the normally serious Spartan. I smiled quite wolfishly. Somehow, I had gotten a battle-scarred veteran super-soldier to smile.

So I've been here for a week and a half. I'm starting to miss my world. And time. Thomas Lasky says that I'm only still on the Infinity because she's on a mission. So in short I was stuck on a spaceship. For some reason, Lasky had given me stuff to study. I didn't know why, it was some sort of weapons list and ammo types or something.

So I was walking back to my room, attempting to squint at the weird list, while dodging people and small vehicles. I was being led by John, so all I had to do was keep his massive form in the corner of my eye.

_Emily was amazingly good at multitasking. The girl was looking down with extreme concentration and annoyance at a piece of paper. I already knew what was on the paper._

_I like this child, I thought._

_She could make a good Spartan, or at least a marine. Strange. This child was making me feel….was that happiness? I don't understand. I usually don't feel anything. Emily was….helping me? I am confused. How was this twelve year old…helping me? I stopped walking abruptly. I felt a small force as Emily continued and cannoned into me._

All of a sudden, I walked straight smack into John-117's back. It was like smacking into wet concrete. I could feel the corded muscle under my face as I fell backwards.

"Hey! Watch it!" I said angrily.

I observed him as he turned around. He looked….strange. There was the usually stoic face, but his eyes were muddled. I couldn't even begin to piece the emotions back together.

"Errm…I uh…" I stuttered.

This guy creeps me out.

I didn't care if he was a super-soldier or whatever.

"Help me up would you?"

He didn't move. I'd had enough.

"OH _COME ON!_ Thomas has been _ANNOYING_ me all week, now you come waltzing in, knocking me over without a care, being woken _EVERY MORNING _by Cortana, and I'm _FED UP!"_

Then I noticed the silence. Everyone in ten metres was staring at me. Then they laughed. I wished an airlock would open and suck me out. John was the only one not laughing. I felt my cheeks crimson alarmingly. Then I couldn't hold it in any longer.

I cried.

_I could clearly see the emotions swirling about on Emily's face. It went from indescribable rage to embarrassment and then circled to sadness. She began to cry quietly. Again, I felt the strange need to help her. But I don't know how._

_You haven't the need to calm down a child, a voice in my head said._

_Leave her._

_I was bewildered. I don't know what to do. I ignored the nagging voice in my head. Then I decided. I didn't care that everyone in the vast corridor was watching, didn't care that they would think I'm even stranger. _

_I picked Emily up and hugged her. I didn't know if I was even doing it properly. For some reason, Emily was helping me become….. more human? I couldn't believe myself. I just openly agreed that I was different. I had to repay Emily._

_I would protect her, I thought firmly._

I almost fainted when he hugged me. I was so shocked. I couldn't even see the jeering faces, my face was squished up against his chest. Good lord, he gave the best bear hug. I was surprised his soldier-like mind had the ability to understand someone else's emotions. The laugher fell silent. Well, John tried. So I rewarded him, I stopped crying. I wanted to hug him like I did with my dad, but I wasn't sure how he would react. Then the embarrassment kicked in. Here I was, getting cuddled by a seven foot tall super soldier who had killed thousands of aliens, blown up numerous things,(almost himself a lot) and saved Earth from the Covenant(aliens). I pulled away, looking up into those blue eyes. For once they seemed satisfied.

Thomas Lasky sighed. It had been a boring, tough week. That child had been instrumental in making his life a misery. And to put it all down, she seemed to do it on purpose. His thoughts crowded with doubt again. He felt so guilty. He had to, he told himself. He couldn't send her back to her own time, couldn't risk her revealing the Infinity's secrets. Palmer had made it perfectly clear.

Thomas was forced to make Emily a Spartan.

_One specific Spartan was not happy. You couldn't see it, but he was fuming with anger. His perfectly calm face hid the swirl of intelligent thought. His blue eyes were kept perfectly blank._

_I don't want her to become a Spartan. She shouldn't ever see the horrors that I have. Lasky knew she had a life outside of this world, this time. And I wanted her to return to it. This was wrong on a lot of levels, I knew._

_I had to get Emily out of here, or die trying. _

_I found her standing in front of a large window looking out into space. The swirls of gas cloud and dust floated past. I strode forward silently and said her name._

"Emily."

"Argh!"

I must have at least jumped a foot into the air. I swivelled around.

"Hey! Don't sneak up on me."

John looked confused.

"Make. Some. Noise. Next. Time."

He cocked his head to the side slightly. Whoa. It actually looked kinda cute.

"Yeah, what?" I asked. He only usually talked to me when he had to.

"There is something Lasky isn't telling you."

I sighed. Why can't people just tell me?

"He is going to keep you here. Make you a Spartan."

Ok…..So that was why he wanted me to learn about the Infinity. It would be cool to wear that armour….But that meant I would have to…_kill_ things.

"But how would I go back to my world?"

"Possibly if I take you back to where you appeared."

"So then why haven't I done that already?"

"Lasky has made it clear he doesn't want anyone in there."

I gritted my teeth. Why couldn't he make an actual sentence?

"So are we gonna try?"

For once he smiled stiffly.

"Yes. And I should enjoy it.

_I ran as fast as I could, with Emily on my back, her arms tight around my neck. She was screaming. I smirked. My enhanced muscles meant I was running at 60km/h. I couldn't run at that speed for much longer, I had already run the two kilometres from the viewing window to the holding bays. I was untouchable. No Spartan IV could match my speed, because as a Spartan II my augmentations were…..Much more. Dangerously so. Most of the candidates had died. I was one of the lucky ones._

_I dug in my heels and stopped. I wanted to take out the guards silently, and swiftly. They obviously had heard the alarm and were looking around intently._

_I turned and whispered to Emily._

"_Stay here. Be quiet."_

_I snuck around to the guards, slipping behind them. They never knew what hit them. One had his neck broken and the other had a combat knife buried in his neck before either of them could blink. I felt a little twinge. I did not enjoy killing humans. I glanced at the titanium steel door._

_I smiled inwardly._

"So how you gonna get the doors open?" I asked, eyeing the dead guards.

"I am not planning to _open_ it."

He fastened his hands on the edges of the door.

"Wait. Are you gonna?"

A loud creaking sound came from the door. Wow. John was making a thirty centimetre thick door _bend._ His eyes were closed in concentration. The doors were fighting a losing battle. They crumpled inwards. I looked at the interior behind the doors. I felt a flush of excitement. I recognised the room.

"This is it!" I said excitedly.

"I'm afraid it's not." said a familiar voice. Lasky.

John whipped around, drawing his pistol he always seemed to have at his hip. The only thing I saw was a blur and the gun was levelled at Lasky's head. Lasky swallowed nervously, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Emily. Go." John said calmly.

He seemed not to care that there were now several guns pointing at him. I didn't want to leave. But it sounded like an order. I ran into the holding bay, flinging myself at the strange light that was starting to appear. John turned and threw something at me. I caught it just as the light enveloped all I could see.

I was in a room. Wait. _My_ room. Then I remembered John.

I opened my hand.

They were his dogtags.

_I woke up sometime later in a bland white room. I was confused for a second. Then it all came back. I sighed. Did she make it? I didn't know. As I gave her my dogtags, Spartan IV Sarah Palmer had shot me in the side. A pang on my right side, near my ribs confirmed that. The painkillers would wear off soon. I reviewed why I wanted to help her. I didn't want her to become what I and others had. A mindless killing machine. If I had died trying to save her from that, I wouldn't have cared. Emily had invoked….feeling in me. Some feelings I had never had. I attempted to stand up, the powerful painkillers not incapacitating me. My feet hit the floor and I pushed myself up. However, the bullet wound in my side didn't agree. A jolt of pain ran up my spine and across my chest and my legs collapsed. My mind could deal with the pain, but my body couldn't. I heard Lasky sniffing beside me._

"_I...I'm so sorry, John. I didn't mean to"_

"_To shoot me? To hold Emily hostage?" I answered flatly, no pain evident in my voice._

"_You don't understand. I _had_ to do this. I could _not_ risk her telling everyone the Infinity's secrets!"_

_I groaned a little. The pain was starting to break down my mind's well-built barriers. I was not in the best state to play mind games._

"_I'm sorry. I wish I could've done it another way"_

"_Did she make it?" I said hopefully._

"_Yes." Sighed Lasky._

"_Good."_

_I passed out from pain and exhaustion. But I knew she was safe._

I was happy I was back. I owed it all to John. I was surprised to find that he was a good friend, if not a little too serious. I giggled when I remembered how he cocks his head to the side when he doesn't understand. It makes him look like grown Rottweiler acting like a puppy. I sighed. I actually was missing John. I decided right then and there something that I had been thinking about.

"I will never tell."


	2. The Light (Sequel)

THE LIGHT

_I stalked silently down the long, grey metal corridor. My mind was crowded with thoughts._

_Would she come back? When? Where?_

_Whispers intruded on my thoughts._

"_What's up with him?" a marine whispered to another._

"_Dunno. Some say he's going bonkers." he shrugged._

"_Shut up you idiots!" chastised their commanding officer._

_Everyone glanced nervously at the tall, long legged figure. It had stopped._

_I was indifferent to some teases or whisperings, I was used to it. But not this full on barrage of them. I was a freak. I was crazy. I was weird. I hated it. I was not good with words, so I couldn't fight back without actually hurting them, which was against UNSC regulations. I sighed. Emily could solve this so easily, give the marines a tongue lashing they'd never forget. The thought of her lightened my mood slightly. I could never be truly happy, no matter how hard I tried to break past those mental barriers that training and experience had set up. The thought should disturb me, but of course it does not. Sometimes I actually hated my surgical enhancements. Especially the hearing. I could hear anything within a ten meter radius. One example, I thought, was that as I was walking to the dormitories, I could clearly hear two young marines slobbering over each other inside their room. I shuddered inwardly. I had never loved anything. I didn't understand why people wasted so much of their time kissing each other when the whole purpose of a "date" and a "wife" was to produce offspring. It wasted time. I-_

_I cut off my thought. What was happening to me? I….I can't compensate for these rogue thoughts. They were completely irrelevant, yet sometimes they keep annoying me. My lifestyle did not allow these…..presumes of love. I halted outside my door, room 117. _

_What a fabulous coincidence, I thought. My own number, randomly selected on a database of the ship. I opened the door carefully, I didn't want to have to go and beg another engineer to fix it for me. The aluminium was too flimsy and completely stupid. What if The Infinity was attacked and she was boarded? An alien, a Covenant, could simply touch the door and it would come down. I sat on the bed, grabbing a pencil from the desk and chewing on the end. I had seen Emily doing it, it tasted disgusting, the cured wood, but it helped me think. My leg was long enough to just kick the door shut. It closed, but as I pulled my boot away, I saw I had left a dent mark. I sighed. Everything was too fragile. It annoyed me greatly having to restrain myself every time I touched something, or picked it up or even came near anything. I suddenly felt the urge to do what Emily had done one morning after Cortana had woken her up.(We had replayed the footage for my and Lasky's amusement.) I turned and face planted into the pillow. I smiled stiffly. It felt oddly satisfying._

"_Idolising children, are we?" said a woman's voice._

_I shot upwards, my muscles responding quickly and smoothly. To any normal human it would have seemed I was lying down, and then sitting upright with a blur. I sprung into a ready stance. I relaxed when I realised it was just Cortana. Her hologram had a new hairdo, something she did often. I rolled my eyes. Sometimes she was helpful or just plain annoying. I secretly hoped she hadn't come to be the latter._

"_I see you have done something to your hair. Again." I stated flatly._

"_I see you noticed. Aren't you mister funny today? I was also wondering if you would like your…..injury to be looked over by one of the medics. You haven't let anyone near it since the accident."_

_I narrowed my eyes. Sarah Palmer had shot me. I didn't hold anything personal; I got straight back into being…..friends somewhat with Lasky and her afterwards. It had been a month, but the wound was healing nicely and I didn't see any reason to check on it._

"_No. I am fine. I do not like unnecessary fussing. I am not a child." I said firmly._

"_I will notify them, quoting your words. I was….Wait."_

_She stopped abruptly. Her hologram looked about. I shot up standing, glaring around the room. _

"_No..It's okay. I'm detecting a slipspace anomaly."_

_I noticed a growing light in the corner of my room. Oh…..Not "it" again. As I watched it drifted closer. I stared at it._

"_Is it dangerous?"_

"_No. It's very stable, like a portal. It won't collapse."_

_I was curious. It bobbed up and down, like it was beckoning._

"_I'm going to let it take me."_

"_What?!"_

"_Tell Lasky and Palmer where I have gone. Goodbye, Cortana."_

_I ran forward, throwing myself at the strange light. It felt like I was still moving, but I couldn't see. A tingling sensation ran over my skin. The light hurt my delicate enhanced eyes, so I shut them._

I yawned widely. I was reading Rangers Apprentice, but it was now getting kind of boring. It was a normal Thursday. I was going to place called Wirraglen, (home schooling get together for kids and their parents) in about two hours. It was only eight AM anyway. I climbed down from my bed, the warmth had softened me up, so when I launched down my bed's steps I was freezing cold. I ignored it and proceeded to rummage through my many boxes. My hand groped around inside a pink one and found it. I pulled out two shiny objects things on a chain. The memories flooded back. The Infinity. Spartans. John. Halo. I put away the dog tags, sitting down to think. My butt never hit the floor. A white light flooded the corner of my room, and I dropped my book. Standing in front of me was John-117, his icy-blue eyes focusing slowly on my own.

Holy crap! I thought. A million things screamed through my head. One wanted to hug John, one wanted to punch him for scaring me, and one told me to hide him. I obeyed that one. He _could not_ be seen. My mother would go psycho and call the police or secret agents or something.

"What, THE _HELL_ JOHN?! Never mind, reunion later! You can't be seen! You'll get caught and detained and other horrible stuff."

His eyes glittered with understanding. They searched about, obviously looking for somewhere to hide. They settled on the wardrobe. I grabbed his arm and yanked it frantically. I was shocked by how _dense_ it was. I likened it to squeezing a rock.

"COME _ON! _In! In!" I whispered, opening the wardrobe door. He tried to fit, but his shoulders were too wide. He tried backwards. By this time I was so nervous I just tried to squish him in. I threw all my weight at his chest and he slipped backwards and landed sitting down, his legs folded awkwardly in front of him, his arms crushed to his sides. Gravity then intervened and a jacket fell on John's head. I had to. I just HAD TO.

I laughed.

The jacket slid off his short, spiky black hair to reveal glaring eyes.

I laughed harder.

His mouth flattened and …..WAIT! WHAT? Was that a _blush_ I spied? My mind turned to ruthless, cruel teasing but snapped back to the present when John finally spoke.

"Are you willing to tell me where I am? Or are your insides exploding with laughter?" he said completely seriously, in trademark John voice. One of his eyebrows rose slightly.

"Heh. Sure. You're in my world, 2014, Australia, Queensland."

The eyebrow proceeded to rise even further.

"What? Emily, who are you talking to?" said a voice from the end of the hallway.

I chewed my nail nervously.

"Err…No-one mum, just thinking."

I glanced back at the curious man in my closet. If she caught me…

John cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah, that was my-"

"I'm listening." John interrupted.

I shut my trap and observed quietly. His eyes were unfocused and their pupils seemed to expand and contract like a cat's.

"She is coming. Close the door."

I did as he said, shutting it quietly. I sat quickly onto my chair and pretended to read. True to John's warning, she walked in twenty seconds later.

"Emily, pick up your jumper and hang it up, and get ready, we are going soon."

"Yes mum."

She walked out, probably to make her breakfast. I picked up my jumper and opened the wardrobe door. I reached over John to grab a coat hanger.

"So how did you get here anyway?" I asked while I was putting the jacket on the coat hanger.

"The same way you came to me." responded John sharply.

"Ah, I see, the "light" speed express." I joked.

John's eyebrow rose once more, His eyes searching my face. He was observing me, and I hated it. I reached over him again, putting the coat hanger back on the metal bar that ran along the roof of my wardrobe. I stepped back, and looked _extremely _closely at his face, attempting to copy his quiet, observant behaviour. His face was covered in small scars, but one slashed straight down his left eye. Whatever had caused it, John was lucky to still have that eye. His eyebrows were quite thin and angled so that he always looks like he was frowning. He was also very white, probably from being in his armour for so long. I suddenly realised I had fallen into a trick. I blushed. I had been staring for too long. His eyes gained a small amount of amusement.

_I had led her right into my trap. I smirked inwardly. I had tricked her into a stalemate. Then I realised why she had blushed so strongly and turned away. I had heard that people stared at each other when they "loved" each other. Understanding flowed in my brain. I had shoved Emily into a completely new and weird situation. It was the same for me too. For the most part I felt strangely happy, actually saying more in a few minutes than I do in two hours._

"_You should probably get ready. You were going somewhere?" I changed the subject quite deliberately, signalling all was forgiven._

"_Yeah, just to a community get together for home schoolers. A kinda social thing."_

"Social thingy? I do not understand. What is a home schooler?"

"Urrm….Well a social "thingy" sorry for the weird grammar- but I'm an Aussie, is that a lot of people come together and talk and to have fun, and a home schooler is someone who is educated at home, by their mum or dad. It's really fun!"

"I see." he said sarcastically.

Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I should go. I'll explain the details when I'm done."

I closed the door on those prying, piercing eyes.

_Thirty minutes later_  
"So I'll be gone for about two to three hours. You can do whatever you want, my brothers have all moved out and my dad is at work. I'm taking my mother with me, so you'll be all by yourself. There's food in the pantry so make a sandwich or something."

John was silent. He got up slowly, stretching his long legs. Poor guy. I felt sorry for him.

"Ok. Gotta run, bye,"

"Goodbye, Emily."

I ran down the hallway, jumped down the steps at the end, and ran through the kitchen and into the garage, grabbing my bag as I went.

_I stalked about, my hands behind my back as I patrolled the house. I didn't know what a "sandwich" was so I didn't "make" one. My long strides covered the length of the house quickly. To my explorations- down from Emily's room was a hallway, with two rooms branching off to the right, and a toilet and bathroom off to the left. At the end was a large expanse, with a few comfy looking chairs and a small black box. I guessed it was a "TV". Straight off to the left was a medium sized, very messy room with a whiteboard and markers. On it were some numbers which looked like fractions and algebra. I guessed this must be where Emily does her "home schooling". I had a look at the worksheets scatted on the round table in the middle of the room. The writing was in pencil and quite sloppy. I could tell she had got them right though, just at first glance. I didn't mind the sloppy penmanship as long as it functioned and she got her answers right. I had to resist the effort to clean up the room. The hallway continued on, branching once again, to the left, which was her parents' bedroom, and to the right, where there were even more comfy lounges and a huge TV. As the hallway ended it veered to the left and there was a comparatively small black box and what looked like an old computer tower. (It was old to me, anyway.) I had a good look around in Emily's room as well. There were a lot of books and a shelf full of plastic aeroplanes, helicopters, cars, and trucks called "LEGO".( The labels told me so) I also guessed with some accuracy that Emily was a huge tomboy, as there were many aircraft models littering her bed's desk. There were also many books on them, which I flicked through, feeling slight amusement at the old World War Two planes and their propellers._

_I took a deep breath as I walked past the doors again. The air here was so clean, for once it wasn't artificial, smelt of fumes or was toxic. My stomach growled. I sighed. Sometimes being so big was not always an advantage. My super reflexes and strength gave me a high metabolism, so if I needed to eat, it was often and in large quantities. I could ignore hunger though. I reviewed a "sandwich". It was obviously food. I decided I would just wait for Emily._

_At Wirraglen_

"Hey Em!"

"Hi Chloe and Oliver! How's it shakin?" I grinned at my slang.

"Yeah, all good mate." replied Chloe.

"Got any new computer game epic fails?" asked Oliver.

"Ja! Course."

Of course I didn't tell them that I had a _computer _game character in my house.

"Yay! To the Gazebo!"

Oliver charged down to the small building. It was where everyone could choose to have their lunch or discuss stuff. I had other things on my mind, so I just kept walking to the Wirraglen building, a small, squat brick house with a kitchen and not much else. I halted and attempted to copy John's stalking. I felt in command and important doing it.

"What are you doing?"

I turned around. Oliver was staring at me with a weird look on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"You are parading about and scowling. If that's not weird I don't know what is."

"Oh. I was just copying someone I know."

"Well who do you know who walks like that? You look like a commander or something."

"I uh….I can't tell you."

Oliver looked sad.

Maybe I should? A wave of doubt smashed into me. He would think I was joking, and then ring the hospital to have my head examined. Then it hit me. Oliver was coming over to my house on Friday anyway and today was Thursday. I should tell him now.

"Umm…..Okay….But you can't tell anyone."

I told him everything. The weird light, the gun, Thomas Lasky, Sarah Palmer, Halo, and that right now John-117 was in my house. In short, everything.

He blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. I winced. Would he take me seriously?

"Do you believe me?"

"Umm….I don't think you would lie about something this serious."

"You are coming over to my house this Friday so you can see for yourself I'm telling you the truth. I'm not joking."

"Emily? Try telling that to Chloe."

I turned. She was standing right behind me.

"Are you serious Emily? You went to the Halo world, met the Master Chief and escaped from life as a Spartan?" she said incredulously.

"Yeah, but don't tell anyone! I can't let John get captured."

"Why?"

"Because they will study him or something?! I don't know! Don't tell anyone! Please?"

"Ok, but only because I think you're telling porkers."

_One hour later_

_I heard the car coming from Emily's room. It was about two hundred meters down the road. I was in no rush as I calmly packed away Emily's books. They had provided me with my only entertainment while she was gone. By the time the garage door opened I had squeezed myself back into the wardrobe, sitting down inside. I took out the active camouflage ball, just in case someone besides Emily opened the door. The ball was designed by aliens, to provide invisibility. The bearer wasn't totally invisible, however. Someone who knew what they were looking for could see me easily. Emily didn't know I had it. I felt a little bad lying about it, but I was used to it. The garage door opened and the car's engine turned off. I heard small, light footsteps, so I put away the camo ball. The wardrobe door opened._

"_Hey, John. I gotta have a shower, I'm really dirty. Be back soon."_

_I cocked my head to the side. Dirty was an understatement. Filthy would describe Emily better._

"_Hey. You know you look strange when you do that."_

_I was confused for a short while. I already thought I was strange. I decided to play this game for a little longer. I tilted my head further to the side._

"_Yeah. That."_

"_In what way?" I asked curiously._

"_Um….It's hard to say this, but you look like a puppy begging for food. Cute."_

_My lips twitched with barely contained amusement. No one had ever announced I was "cute" before. If this child wanted to say something, she would. She would not take shortcuts. Ever since she had appeared in front of me, there was something in her that I liked._

"Emily! Why aren't you having your shower yet?"

John pursed his lips.

"Yeah, I AM I'm just getting my CLOTHES mum!"

I grabbed them and closed the wardrobe door.

"Emily." The deep voice halted me before I ran to the bathroom.

"Yeah?"

"I am sorry. But I need to eat something." John sounded slightly embarrassed.

Strange. Why would you feel embarrassed if you were hungry? I groaned.

"I'll deal with it after my shower."

_Ten minutes later_

_I peered through the crack in the door. A voice whispered from the hallway._

"_I errmm….I forgot my clothes in my rush. So could you, you know, not look?"_

_I mentally face palmed. How could she forget anything more vitally important than clothes? However I obeyed and closed my eyes._

"_Done."_

_There was a fair amount of rustling and some muttered words which I obviously shouldn't have heard._

"_M'kay. I'm done."_

_The door opened. Emily looked down at me, impressively dressed. She was wearing a striped shirt with deep red pants. She seemed to examine my fashion sense. I was only wearing a standard UNSC shirt, long sleeved and grey. I had black pants, boots and belt. Emily tutted. _

"_Darling, that look is just not working for you, nuh uh."_

_I glared. I was hungry and she was forgetting. I was not interested in clothes. She seemed to catch my eyes._

"_Oh. Ok. Food. I'll try to make a sandwich for myself, and then take it up to you. She closed the door and marched off importantly. I listened for ten minutes. My left leg was starting to fall asleep. I stretched it vertically upwards. I heard quick footsteps and the door opened. In came a hand, and arm, and a plate with two pieces of bread "sandwiched" together. I took the plate. How could this…..simple thing, be a sandwich?_

"_Don't look at it like it's an alien with a plasma rifle aimed at you. It's yummy! It has my honey on it. Look I have to go. I won't be back for a while."_

_She closed the door. I sniffed the sandwich. It smelled sugary and it was very sticky. I took an experimental bite. My eyes widened. This was heaven on Earth, it was delicious. I woolfed it down. I stretched out to wait for Emily. There was no sunlight streaming in through the door when I saw her again._

"_Okay. Its seven pm John. My parents are going to bed soon and you can come out then."_

_She examined my hair for a little while, staring closely at it. She seemed to be choking._

"_What?" I said seriously._

_She laughed. I was confused. How was my hair funny? Sometimes I did not know what was funny with Emily. She seemed to think everything was. I reached up and felt it. Oh. There was a large clump of it stuck upwards._

"_Here. Lemme get that."_

_She reached over. Before I knew it, my hand was instinctively moving to stop hers. I grabbed her wrist. She froze. I didn't know what she meant by "Get that." I let her wrist go. I didn't want to scare her._

I stayed stock still while he had my wrist in his hand. I didn't blame him, his training probably took over. I looked into his eyes. There was some apprehension in them. He obviously was wondering what I was going to do. I ignored that fact and continued my hand's journey to his hair. He did nothing this time, just watched me with that same expression he had when he had hugged me on the Infinity. His body stiffened as my fingers came into contact with his hair, attempting to calm down the outrageous spiked up bits. He eventually relaxed and his eyes closed, the corners of his mouth twitching up slightly.

_I didn't know what she was doing, but I didn't care, it felt amazing. I had never been touched in that way ever. My head had never been massaged before. I was content to let her sit there and do that for ever._

I giggled. I reckoned John was on the brink of purring. The expression on his face was one of utter bliss. I fixed up the crazy bits on his black hair and pulled away. His eyes snapped open and he seemed like he was trying to suppress a sigh. I grinned. He tilted his head in the strange way, so I copied him. He folded his arms and pursed his lips so I did the same. This time the side of his mouth slid _properly_ upwards. He had smiled. I pulled a stupid face and threw a bag at him. His hand was already there to catch it before it had even _reached_ him. He then promptly opened it and shoved it over my head.

"Mppfffft!" I pulled it off.

I couldn't believe it. The Master Chief was _playfighting_ with me, out of all things.

"Oi!" I cried indignantly.

"Oh yeah. I also forgot to tell you, my friend Oliver is coming over tomorrow, but don't worry cause he already knows enough about you to not gawk and go psycho."

John's eyes narrowed sharply.

"He already….knows?"

I slapped a palm on my forehead. I forgot. I already knew about him as well, even before I met him.

"Ok. You see, in my world there is a computer game called Halo and you are the main character. And me and Ethan have played it so we um…..Already know you saved the universe and stuff."

I rummaged around in one of my boxes and pulled out a photo of the Master Chief in his armour that I got off the internet and handed it to John. He glared at it, his eyes narrowing further.

"You lied. You said to Lasky that you didn't even know where you were."

His gaze raked over the inside of the wardrobe and reached me.

"I couldn't tell….it would only make things harder…"

"So I'm just a computer game character am I? For your entertainment?"

"No! You're not….I mean….yes…NO! You are NOT! You are not a machine. Others in your world might think you are but I know you aren't."

He was silent, but he continued to glare. I pressed my forehead into the floor and held back tears. I didn't want him to hate me. I wanted him to be my friend. I liked him. I sobbed quietly into the carpet. The lights went out. Mum and Dad had gone to bed. All of a sudden, I was weightless, lifted by strong arms. They pulled me into John's chest. I cried into it. I cried because of other things, the stress of hiding him, the stress of keeping the massive secret. After a while I ran out of reasons to cry and just rested my head on John's chest. He didn't say anything, but I knew all was forgiven. I listened to the quiet rhythm of his heart and lungs for a while. John was my _best _friend. Not even Oliver could top this. The regular expanding and contracting of his chest sent me off into dreamland.

_Emily was asleep, but I was not. I had stayed up all night thinking. Emily was almost like an extension of me, she opposed my nature so squarely, yet she complemented me well. She had wrapped her warm, clammy arms around my neck some time ago. Her head was now resting on my shoulder. The only revolting thing was that she had drooled for a little while, one droplet snaking down my neck and down my shirt somewhere. I shivered. I had faced aliens, ancient evil, and yet I was terrified by a droplet of spit. I felt strange today. My emotions had completely defeated my training and run rampant. Somehow this child was _developing _me. I was also in a small state of shock after I learnt that I was a _computer _game character, of all things. It was time for Emily to wake up. She needed to prepare for Oliver. I also needed some time alone. I didn't like being in such….close company with someone for too long._

"Emily." called a faint voice. It sounded oddly familiar.

I shifted.

"Five more minutes mum." I mumbled.

I felt a dull, but sharp pain on my arm. I opened my eyes, focusing on a face. It was scarred and very serious. I wondered who it was. The pain intensified. I shook myself apart from the clutches of sleep, glaring at the icy-blue eyes that were looking down at me. My brain's cogs started to turn. HOW DARE HE? John was pinching me!

"OW! Hey!"

John had no comment, but he pulled his fingers away from my skin. I scrambled upright, throwing open the wardrobe door, and flinging myself out. I turned to look at John. He was serious again.

"Emily, how are you going to…._show_ me to Oliver?"

"I don't know, you're the genius, combat trained professional. You think of the plans."

"I am not used to dealing with such situations."

"Well, what do you have that can help us?"

"I did bring this."

John pulled a sphere out of his pocket. It was a purplish-grey.

"Oooo! Is that what I think it is? Active camouflage?"

He nodded. He squeezed the sphere and his form blurred, then disappeared, save for a slight shimmering of where he was.

"Now you can actually walk around."

I stepped aside. It was creepy; I could feel a slight breeze as he strode past me.

"Okay. That's cool. But back to the situation, I better go get ready. I can't restrict you now, so go where ever you want."

_Two hours later_

"Hi Oliver!"

"Hi Ems!"

He ran forward and hugged me. I played with him for a little while, trying to distract him from charging straight into my room and flinging the wardrobe door open.

"I think it's time now."

Oliver nodded. I ran to my bedroom with him in tow and shut the door.

"So where is this amazing guy then?"

I tapped my foot, and John appeared. He was across the room, as far away as he could get from Oliver. I remembered that he didn't really like you until he knew he could trust you. He was standing straight, with his hands in fists by his side, his face set into an emotionless mask. His steely gaze was trained directly on Oliver. Even I had trouble even glancing over his face. Oliver's jaw dropped open, and he took a step back.

"That's….him?"

"Yup. The first person I met in his world, although I didn't know it then."

Oliver stepped forward, reaching out toward John. He flinched backwards.

"Don't do that. He doesn't like it."

I reached past and poked John to prove he was real.

"That was active camo he just had on, wasn't it?"

"Yep. Pretty cool huh?"

"So what you gonna do with him? You can't _keep_ him."

"Yeah, but now that I know he has camo, he can walk around without getting spotted."

"But you can still see him, just not very well."

John was watching the exchange quietly. His gaze flicked to Emily, then to Oliver and back again.

"He's actually not all that ba-"

John interrupted.

"Why are you talking about me like I am not even here?" he said.

"He talks?"

"Dur."

I glanced at John. He was becoming somewhat annoyed. Well, it looked like it anyway. You couldn't really tell with him. Oliver clicked his fingers.

"That voice. It's him, alright."

"I know. I told you. He is real."

"I almost thou-"

John interrupted again,

"You're mothers are coming."

And he disappeared. I pretended I was messing with my RC helicopters and Oliver pretended to annoy me.(Actually I didn't know if he was actually pretending.)The door opened and Oliver's mother strode in, his little sister Daisy tagging along behind.

"Oliver, no shutting out your sister."

"Errm….It's my fault Rose. She can come in now."

_Emily took the blame. I was proud of her. What? Rewind! What made me think that I should be supervising her? Did I consider her almost…my responsibility? I asked myself why that would be. It was because I had never taken the handlebars on my life. Everything I did was either ordered or necessary. My thoughts felt so…alien in my own head. Then it hit me what that strange, choking feeling that was in my chest was. For the first time in years._

_I was scared._

_Three hours later_

"Bye Oliver."

"CYA Emily. Keep me posted."

"Okay. Sure, will do."

The car drove down the driveway and down the road. I turned and went inside.

"Are you happy now? I invited your friend over." my mother asked me.

"Yeah, but now I feel really tired."

"Go and have a sleep then."

"Okay."

I marched into my room, and closed the door. John reappeared in front of me.

"I don't like the way Oliver stared at me."

"You're John-117, the legendary hero. Course he's gonna stare."

His already thunderous frown deepened. He was silent. I could almost see the inner turmoil breaking out. I shrugged inwardly. I would give him a big hug to fix everything. I attempted to pin his arms to his sides when I proceeded with my plan, but I failed and they extracted themselves from my grip. I hugged him anyway, even though I didn't even come up to his chest. He stiffened automatically. These things did not come easily to him. He eventually relaxed, though, becoming somewhat squishy and huggable. Okay, for some reason I like a 35-45 year old badass supersoldier. It was weird. But apparently to many people I was already weird, so I didn't really care. John let out a silent sigh.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"You are helping me to….to….be normal." he said with difficulty.

"I…Errmm….It's okay, I s'pose."

I pulled away, remembering something. I rummaged around in one of my boxes and pulled out John's dogtags, and I held them out to him.

"Here. I always wanted to give them back."

He took them and put the chain over his head.

"Thank you again."

"So….Um…How you gonna get back to your world? And why did you even come here in the first place? Cause you know that light isn't going to take you to safe places all the time."

John frowned and chewed his lip.

"I do not know."

I sniffed. John kinda needed a shower. He'd been in my hot, stuffy wardrobe for the equivalent of two days. He glanced at me.

"I can't shower when you aren't. It would attract attention." he explained.

"Yeah well, you're a boy and I'm a girl, so no."

"I won't look?"

"Nope. Not a chance."

"Then put up with my smell."

I folded my arms, lifting up my head, attempting to look haughty.

"Americans."

I did my best impression of John's American burr.

"I do not sound that that."

"_I do not sound like that." _I mimicked.

"Children." he growled.

I stuck out my tongue. I picked up my book, threw myself down onto my chair and read. John crouched and seemed to begin a strange examination of my carpet.

"Your floor is dirty."

"Mhm."

"You should clean it."

"Nah."

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. I sniffed again.

"Can I at least spray perfume on you?"

"I do not want to smell…._pretty_." he said with disdain.

"It would suit you." I giggled.

He glared at me, so I stuck my tongue out again. He lifted his head and began to copy my haughty look. He obviously found it interesting. I flung my book at him, but he caught it expertly and slid his finger inside to save my page.

"I wonder what we have to do to get you back to your world?"

"The gateway only seems to open when it wants to."

"Then let's _make _it." I growled menacingly.

John shook his head.

"Ask it?"

"No."

"Wish it?"

"_No._"

"Aha! How about we get you to reveal yourself?"

"_What?_"

"No, not like that, as in show people that you are real!"

He seemed to think for a moment.

"It's plausible."

"But its Friday! The next Wirraglen day is on Tuesday! I'll have to keep you hidden and feed you until then."

He looked at me.

"Okay! Okay!"

_Four days later_

_I woke up and paced around Emily's room. I needed to think. Only Oliver would _really_ know who I was._

"_Hey! John. You ready?"_

"_Yes. But you are not."_

_She had only just woken up and almost fell down her bed's steps. I had to catch her._

"_Can you stop acting like a drill sergeant?"_

"_I am not. Would you like me to demonstrate?"_

_I was totally serious. I would be screaming at her if I was one._

"_Ermm…No thanks."_

_She had eventually let me have a shower, but insisted that I be blindfolded when it was her turn. When it was mine, she timed me exactly, giving me eight minutes to get dressed. I was already done by the time she had finished counting, she had opened her eyes to find my face 3 inches away, glaring at her. I was a little annoyed at how much of a brat she was. I wanted to scare some sense into her. She had been silent all that morning._

"_Heeey? John? Hellooo?" she said, snapping her fingers in my face._

_I jolted from my memories._

"_Pardon?"_

_She huffed irritably. _

"_I said, hurry up and get ready because we are going soon."_

_She stormed out. I sighed quietly. I was not the best at dealing with…..children. Emily was one exception, I could ignore her but eventually she got overwhelming. She didn't seem to mind she was annoying me, someone who could harm her. She treated me like I was normal, something I enjoyed._

_1 hour later_

I plopped down into the car seat. John needn't get in the car, all he had to do was run alongside, and his enhancements meant he could easily keep up. Mum started up the car and off we went. I glanced out the window, thinking I could make out a shimmering shape running. I wondered what he was feeling, about how I thought we could get him back to his world. He couldn't stay here, Oliver and himself had made that perfectly clear. He had to show everyone that he was _there_. They didn't need to know who he was, but it must be hard for John to expose himself like that, after on the Infinity I could clearly see that he absolutely _hated_ attention. I settled down to wait for our impending arrival at Wirraglen.

_I panted, not puffed. I wasn't tired, just hot. Running that fast produced a lot of heat from my muscles. I had arrived just after Emily; I had to slacken my pace for a short while. I may have super strength, but even I couldn't run that fast for very long. I watched as Emily leapt out of the car. Doubt swirled around in my head. I didn't want to make myself known. I didn't want other people to know what a freak I was. I stepped forward and tapped Emily's shoulder. She turned and whispered._

"_I can't interact with you while there are people around. It would look weird."_

_She turned abruptly and started walking towards a small, bricked building surrounded by trees. I breathed in deeply, testing the air. It was sweet and smelt of nature; it was even better than the air in Emily's home. I followed about five meters away from Emily, making sure not to step in any patches of sunlight. They made my shimmer more visible. I also stayed away from large groups of people. I found that harder and harder to attempt when over the course of two hours, more people arrived. I took the time to observe other children. Emily seemed vastly different yet similar at the same time. They seemed to talk a lot about something called "Minecraft". I was confused a lot at some of the things they discussed. I knew they were something unique to this time. Emily and I had made up a sort of signal; she kicked the ground four times when she wanted me to come. She was doing that just now. One, two, three, four. I marched over and pulled on her hair gently._

"_Okay. I think it's time. Somehow Oliver got everyone into the Gazebo." she announced._

"_I will come."_

I walked over to the small building that would be where John would show himself. I could just hear quiet footsteps behind me. I was shocked that a person of John's size could walk so quietly. I ceased to hear them when I came close to the Gazebo; it sounded like a zoo in there.

"Oi! EVERYONE! IVE GOT SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU!" I hollered.

Everyone shut up and looked at me. I felt a slight breeze; I knew John had walked past. I waited patiently. Then he appeared, standing as he had when he had showed himself to Oliver, his blue eyes hard and cold, glaring about. He towered pretty much over everyone.

"Who is THAT!?" there was a collective gasp.

"He appeared out of nowhere?"

"Is he an alien?"

"Why is he so tall?"

"He's creepy!"

I looked about intently behind John's back, looking for that pesky light.

"And what is-"

People were cut off as the light appeared, right behind them. John stiffened. He would have to barge between them to get to it. I punched the air.

"Aha! I am ze genius! You shall call me Einstein!" I crowed triumphantly.

At that point, John had had enough of the whispers and ran toward the light. Just before he reached it he stopped.

"Thank you Emily. You gave me a chance to be….human."

"Aww…shucks. Thanks. But you should go. They look like their eyeballs are gonna pop out of their head."

John's lips twitched and I resisted the urge to punch him. He turned and jumped into the portal light thingy. I smiled. That guy was fun, interesting, annoying,(I returned the favour sometimes) and completely AWESOME! But something was happening. I was moving. Towards the light. I dug in my heels and leaned backwards. It was taking me with it! I screamed. No! I don't know where it could take me! It could dump me into a lava pit for all I knew. I lost the desperate battle and I flew forwards. This time, the trip didn't take more than five seconds, dumping me roughly on the ground from 3 feet up. I opened my eyes. I was sitting on my (painfully bruised) bottom. The sand and dirt around me was ash grey and some of it looked like glass. There was a huge, broken up spaceship in front of me. It was at least as long as a skyscraper, and it was torn in half. The sky around me was dark grey, and there were many fires. Then I saw the bodies. I almost hurled up. There were alien and human carcasses. I looked away quickly, picking up a piece of the strange glass. It was dirty, and I realised, something had _melted_ the dirt into the glass. I raced through my mind's memory banks. What could _melt _dirt. Lightning? No. This was definitely not Earth, and I didn't know what planets _had _lightning. Fire? No. The only fires seemed to be contained in the spaceship. Plasma? Yes. There were dead aliens. Aliens had plasma rifles. Then it hit me. I knew exactly where I was.

On a battlefield. And the battle-doers had all died.

And John was crouched ten meters away.

And his face was tear streaked.

Emily Taylor – The Light Page 19


	3. Escape(Sequel)

Emily

The silence was terrible. Frayed wires and circuits drifted in the breeze, the wind whistling through holes in the spaceship.

"J…John?"

I shivered, feeling small. I hated the quiet. I hated the bodies. I hated myself for having eyeballs. John was kneeling on the ground, his eyes downcast. He seemed to be in some sort of trance and he did not respond when I called his name. I closed my eyes and walked over, remembering the landscape so I didn't have to look at the skeletons. I stopped and John's blinked. I touched him lightly on his shoulder, and he lifted his head. His eyes were completely blank and cold, emotionless. The shock had swallowed his feelings again. I didn't want to say anything, didn't want to disturb him, but I was scared and unsure. He was the only one who could help with that.

"Where are we?" I whispered.

John didn't respond, looking over my head into space somewhere.

"Wh…what happ-"

"They are Spartans." he finally said, his voice stiff.

I forced myself to look at one of the less gross skeletons. Its bones gleamed like metal, and that was not normal. Spartan bones were coated with some kind of metal to make them almost unbreakable. I sniffed. I thought. I acted. I cried. This was too much. Too too much. I could not deal with this. Why? Why do we insist on having wars like this, even in the future?

"Their last names are numbers. And I recognize the first names."

What had he just said? Only one Spartan program had their candidates last names removed, from UNSC files, from their heads.

John's program. The dead Spartans were IIs. This was horrible. No wonder why he had cried. He seemed to be okay now, standing and glaring at the alien bodies. Man, he recovered quickly.

"Why did they fight? Couldn't their spaceship just run away?"

"It would have been boarded, the captain killed. It would have crashed."

"How are we going to get out of here?"

"We are not. We will ask someone to take us. There may be a radio inside the ship." he said in short sharp words.

This man was not happy, and I didn't think he would be for a while.

_One hour later_

Emily

I felt dizzy, so I sat down on one of the many supply crates littering the bridge. Many of the computers and monitors had been smashed, and what John was doing didn't help the picture. He was ripping metal plating off the wall; he was searching for the radio system. He'd spent the better half of an hour looking for the armoury, which he couldn't find to his obvious annoyance. He was clearly looking for weapons. He had also dragged me around with him, so I was dehydrated and my legs ached. He'd seemed to have recovered completely from seeing his dead Spartans outside. Yes, I said "his" because he was their commanding officer, well, until the war had ripped the squads apart. The Human Covenant War had caused all the strife, all starting from when an alien ship had landed on a planet called Harvest, requesting the planet as their own. I was interrupted in my musings by a loud crash as John threw a metal plate down. He turned and marched down the ruined corridor. He had done this all day; not bothering to check to see if I was okay, not bothering to see if I was following. His emotions were gone again; he had reverted back to what he had been like on the Infinity, cold, hard, uncaring. I trotted behind John, halting when he stopped to look up into the air vent. He was obviously looking for something and I didn't ask why, he probably wouldn't respond. He hadn't said a word after his pronunciation that there may be a radio. He walked for about ten minutes, not bothering to check if I was still there. He ceased walking finally as he reached a glass case. It was full of what looked like opaque computer chips. They were blue, and I recognized them. They were memory crystals, the equivalent of a HALO universe's USB drive. I watched John as his eyes roamed over them, flicking about restlessly. I heard a small shifting noise above me and I looked up, freezing in place as I did so. An alien was crouched on a roof panel above me, training a plasma rifle on John. I screamed.

"John! MOVE!"

It was too late, as John noticed the alien he threw himself to the right, but the superheated green plasma was too fast even for him. It scorched across his left flank, burning a whole instantly through the cloth and I could smell something ominously close to burning flesh. He didn't cry out, just fell on his side and got up. It was amazing. He was probably in terrible pain, but he didn't show it, blood running down his side and onto the metal floor. The alien jumped down, bending his knees with the weight of the impact. He threw away the plasma rifle, drawing his plasma sword instead. It was blue, with white along the edges, and it hummed quietly. He had four mandibles for a mouth and he was coated in thin grey armour. He leaped at John, but the Spartan was too quick, injured as he was and he dodged out of the way, slamming his fist into the side of the alien's head as he went past. There was a sickening crunch as I watched in horror; John's hand appeared on the _other_ side of the alien's skull. I cringed. I quailed, and I hurled. I collapsed onto the floor, my guts emptying the last of my food onto it. After a minute I stopped and looked for John. He was crouching, his hand pressed to his side where the plasma had hit. He didn't look in pain, and his eyes were sharp and clear, his pupils narrowed. He seemed more interested in me than the thin trail of blood running down the side of his chest.

"John! You've..You've been hit! Go to the medbay!"

I stood and grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the direction of the medbay(There seemed to be one every hundred metres) frantically. He stood slowly, obviously hampered by his wound. It was obvious he didn't feel the pain, but physically his body was failing. I was angry that he walked calmly down the corridor after me, blood trailing behind him when he could die. The door to this medbay was smashed in and the only thing not overturned in the whole room was a bed with clean white sheets. I shoved him over, though it did nothing to his speed. He walked almost…ponderously over, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"What do I do?"

He didn't reply.

"TELL ME!" I screamed.

He still didn't respond, although he grabbed a bandage from a table and began to wrap it around his middle, over his injury. The blood stopped as the layers got tighter and I realised that I didn't need to help him, he could help himself. I huffed. He could have _told_ me that I didn't need to do anything that it was alright. I was angry with him, and I knew that he realised it. Once he was done, he lay down on the bed, obviously to rest. He was completely ignoring me.

"What are you doing?"

"Keep searching for the radio." he said in a completely calm voice.

"What? I can't leave you!" I said indignantly.

"Look for the radio." he repeated.

"But…Grr…Nevermind."

I ran non-stop back to the bridge, angry. By the time I arrived, I had used all my anger for fuel for my muscles. I would find the radio, and I would give it to John.

_Three hours later_

_John-117_

_I did not feel pain. Now that my emotions had disappeared, I could simply acknowledge and ignore it. I did not enjoy emotions one bit. Only happiness was one that I moderately liked. My mind drifted back to the Spartans. My Spartans. I had recognised many of the names on those dogtags, felt the memories come washing back. Now I didn't care that they were dead. I was in a cold rage, showing it when I killed that Covenant waiting in the ceiling. I did not really care about Emily much anymore, although a small voice said that I should, that she was a friend. Some logic in my head said that friends were useful. I shoved away the voice, instead focusing on listening on the child who was even now, running back, honing my enhanced hearing on one sound of footsteps, light and quick. She was about fifty metres down the corridor, and I could hear her heavy breaths as she ran. I heard her voice explode into my head, cringing as my boosted hearing amplified the sound._

"_I found it! I did it! Jooohn!" she hollered excitedly as she burst into the room. I did not let on that her excited yells were deafening me._

Emily

I handed the radio box over to John, grinning happily. I had succeeded. He took it from me, examining it closely. The box was see through and I could see the circuits perfectly, and it fit neatly into his hand. John took one look and crushed the fragile box in his fist. I gasped in horror.

"It is fried. We cannot use it." he said.

I flopped down onto the bed next to him. A wave of exhaustion and disappointment washed over me; I had crawled through twenty _metres_ of maintenance tunnel, barging through wires and shards of metal. My left hand had a deep gash in it because one of the metal bits had sliced it. I held it to my side, attempting to slow the ooze of blood. It seemed okay and I did not feel the need to bandage it. John however thought otherwise, and nothing escaped his sharp eyesight. He turned his head, looking down at me. He grabbed my hand, turning it over, his pupils narrowing as he examined it.

"You are hurt."

"That sounds rich, coming from you. You could have _died."_

I was exhausted and extremely annoyed. He had crushed my hard work in an instant. I didn't particularly feel like being nice. I knew I should be kinder, he was _caring_ about me, and that was a big step after he had turned all "Spartan mode" on me.

_John-117_

_I examined the cut on the child's hand. It was deep, around one centimetre. It could get infected and I didn't particularly want to amputate her hand. I was a little concerned, I felt something for this child, I knew but I could not seem to resurrect the feeling. I knew I had…._felt_ before, but now I could not. I remembered that I was _scared_ of emotions. That they complicated everything. I did not understand why this child could _feel _and do what was necessary at the same time. I did not believe emotions have a purpose. I pulled a bandage off the shelf in front of me and began to wrap it around her hand. This was an old ship, the medical supplies were not up to date and many of them were probably what Emily had in her world. Emily winced a little as I wrapped up her hand, but I paid no attention and carried on, taking great care to not break any of her tiny bones. I finished and let go of her hand, and she did something completely unexpected. She knelt on the bed and kissed my cheek. I saw it coming but did not react. I wanted to see how it felt. It felt strange, but good at the same time. I knew that was a normal person's way of thanking someone. I knew that she was trying, _trying _to get me to feel. It didn't really work._

"_Thanks John." She said gratefully._

"_Do not ignore your injuries." I chastised._

"_C'mon John. Lighten up."_

_I could not reply as bright sparks exploded in my vision and I could feel a sharp pain on the back of my head. I slid off the bed, collapsing onto the floor. I knew exactly what had happened; someone was trying to knock me unconscious. My head was on its side, on the floor and I saw Emily collapse, down for the count beside me. I felt a surge of anger that someone would treat her like that, but I set it aside as I knew that I had to ignore feelings. My brain urged to do the same as Emily's had, but someone rolled me over onto my back before my light snuffed out. My eyes adjusted to the setting sun through a hole in the roof above me and I looked up into pale blue eyes. They were set into a scarred feminine face, with thin eyebrows much like mine. Her lips were pressed together tightly, she was obviously not enjoying this or she was surprised. Spartans did not have a wide range of facial expressions. I wondered why I had called her a Spartan. The face struck me as familiar and my dazed brain provided me with the necessary information:_

_It was Kelly-087, a Spartan who had used to be in my squad._

_And probably the fastest thing that had ever lived._

_I went out cold. _

_Three hours later_

Emily

I woke up with a jerk. Blood trickled down the back of my neck from a wound on my head. I attempted to feel it but found I couldn't. I yanked at my hands but found them bound together with rope, my feet restrained likewise to a metal chair. I was in a large room, which looked very much like every other room on the ship; metal plates, more metal plates and _more_ metal plates. I looked wildly around for John, and saw him at the other end of the room, a syringe stuck in his arm. His eyes were open and looking about, but he did not move, his body slack. I realised he was sedated weakly, enough so he couldn't move but his mind was coherent. I tried to scream but found I was gagged. I "Mrrffpttt!" frantically and a face appeared in front of me. I wanted to _bite_ whoever that was, I did not enjoy being tied up. My eyes focused and I realised it was a she. She loosened my gag and I spat murder at her.

"Oi! You! Who do you think you are! What did you do to John! Where are we? You psychopath!"

The woman's blue eyes seemed to narrow, suspiciously like…..John's? I examined her face. Her eyes seemed to have that steely coldness that John's had, and her face was scarred like his as well. I realised I was looking at another Spartan II, a survivor. She ignored me and strode over to John. His eyes flicked upwards and I knew he was trying, _trying_ to move. She yanked out the syringe, and I knew that John would be mobile soon.

"He's gonna chew you out, whoever you are, cause he is the Master Chief and the most badass person I know."

The other Spartan froze and spoke.

"You…..Know?"

Her voice was somewhat lighter and less serious than John's and it did not have that undertone of command that his had.

"Hell yeah. And I have no idea what rank-"

"Petty Officer First Class."

"-you are, but he's gonna kick your ass out of this universe. I don't think he likes being sedated and I sure as hell don't like being tied up."

I snorted at "Petty" Officer.

"Oh I see. A "Petty" Officer." I smirked.

I enjoyed antagonising people, I realised. She whirled around, glaring at me, crouching and lowering her face centimetres from mine. I was a little surprised; her emotions were not as controlled as John's. I looked straight into her eyes, refusing to back down; she seemed to do the same. Slurred speech ended our stalemate.

"Stop it. Kelly, she is our ally."

The so called "Kelly" started in surprise. I relaxed as I realised who she was, the mystique fading away. She was Spartan-087, the fastest of all the Spartans. Her reaction times were even less than John's, which meant she could react in less than a third of a second. She also ran slightly faster, around 70km/h.

"John? How did _you_ get here? And who is this child?"

I got a little annoyed at "child". I was almost thirteen! She referred to the Master Chief as John so it was obviously a close relationship. They had, after all, been in the same squad.

"_She _is my friend. Untie her."

I felt a little happier. He had referred to me as friend. Kelly simply broke my bonds. I sprung up, rushing past Kelly. I tried to get to John, who was trying to flex his legs and arms. He obviously couldn't feel them yet. Kelly flashed something and before I had even _processed_ this, a hand was hooked around the neck of my shirt, pulling me back, choking me.

"Orruk! Hey! Let ME _GO!"_ I coughed out.

"She doesn't come near you until I know who she is and why you are here."

John sighed. He told Kelly about me coming to the Infinity, going to my world, coming here. Her grip loosened when he finished and I scrambled forward. By the time he had finished he was able to stand and I ran behind him, peeking out to stick out my tongue at Kelly. John fastened a hand around my shoulder and I felt a prick at the side of my neck. I realised John had stuck me with the rest of his sedative. I looked up at him with dismay.

"I am sorry. But I need to talk to Kelly _without_ you hearing."

I went out like a light.

_John-117_

_I stuck the syringe in Emily's neck and she looked up at me. Her gaze was filled with betrayal and sadness and I felt a little twinge. I didn't enjoy doing that to her. She fell limp and I caught her, laying her down gently onto the floor. Kelly shifted from foot to foot. She was so fast that she could not sit still for more than a minute. Back when she was in my squad, she had to actually slow herself _down _for me and the others._

"_So what will we do, John?"_

"_Did any escape pods fire?"_

"_Yes, two or three I think." she said, chewing her lip._

"_Then their radios may be functioning. Emily retrieved the radio from this ship and it was fried."_

"Emily_ retrieved the radio?" Kelly asked disbelievingly._

_I frowned. Why did that sound so strange now?_

"_Yes she did. Is that a problem?"_

"_Err…no."_

"_Good. Do you know if any other Spartans…survived?" I asked tenderly._

_I was treading on broken glass here. Even though I was her commanding officer, our friendship meant she could challenge me. Kelly was known for having a quick temper._

"_Fred may have survived. I don't really know, once most of the Spartans had died we retreated into the ship. Fred and I split up and I don't know where he is. Linda ejected in an escape pod. She didn't arrive at the ship's crash site."_

_I felt a little better knowing that Frederic-104 was probably still alive and in the ship somewhere. Linda-058 was a different story. I wanted to find her, but Fred would be first. Some help would be useful. I felt a small amount of happiness entered my mind. All my old squad members would reunite and I could see them again. Kelly was excellent bait, her speed enabling her to distract enemies, earning her the nickname "rabbit". Fred had an uncanny skill with combat knives and Linda was the finest sniper I had ever seen. The combination of these skills had made Blue Team the most formidable Special Forces squad in the UNSC's arsenal. The war had killed the fourth member, Samuel-034, also effectively separating Blue Team. I had considered him almost as my brother. I shoved away my grief; it had been more than twenty years ago. First, however, I needed help to find Fred. Two Spartans were hardly enough to search the spaceship's vast length._

"_John I am happy to see you. I missed you."_

_I jolted away from my thoughts. I did not know how to respond to this. Some memory in my head knew how to, but it was too faint and I could not summon it._

"_I….I missed you…too Kelly."_

_She sighed and I knew I had failed my attempted of stepping around the conversation._

"_John, we can't search the ship by ourselves."_

"_I know. But I know who can help us."_

"_Surely you don't mean…."_

_I was going to ask Emily to help._

_And I did not think it would be easy._

Emily

I opened my eyes, focusing them on a scarred face. It was John, so I spat. I was not happy that he had sedated me. His head jerked and the spit sailed past.

"Emily, I require your help."

"And pwhat mwakes yhu think I whill?" I slurred.

"Because you will be finding Frederic-104."

I started in surprise.

"Wwhy?"

"So we have reinforcements. We will be looking for escape pods and Linda-058. The pods also may have a working radio."

"Ok. So you are looking for Fred, so we can look for Linda. Why the _heck_ would we need more people?"

I didn't understand. He didn't explain things very well, in his silent "man of few words" state.

"There may be Covenant around. We will need the extra help."

Just great. Juuuust great, I thought. Well, at least that explained it. I also thought that John was finding Fred for his own personal gain. He obviously wanted to unite his team again.

"Hmmm….okay. But don't blame me if Fred kills me or something." I grudgingly agreed.

_Two hours later_

Emily

"We will split into teams. Kelly will be searching along the corridors of the starboard side; I will do the same on the port. Emily you will go straight through the middle."

Kelly saluted and whirled away, running into an access tunnel. I looked at John. He seemed to be thinking.

"I thought it would be best to separate you and Kelly." he announced.

I folded my arms.

"And why would that be?"

"Kelly is not exactly impressed that I have decided to take you along with us."

I growled. I turned and stomped down the main corridor through the middle of the ship. I didn't like being called a liability. I wasn't sure that I liked Kelly now. Some part of me wanted to prove that I wasn't useless. I looked everywhere as I walked, but I didn't spot anything out the ordinary. The walk was all uphill, so I stopped to take a rest and sat down on one of the metal peg-things that seemed to line the floor. I heard a soft thump, very similar to when the alien had jumped down. I shot upright, turning my head to look. Jesus. There was a man standing three metres away with brown hair and eyes. His face was scarred very much like John and Kelly's. Why do Spartans have to keep _appearing_ like that? It scares me out of my wits! He advanced around me like two boxers do in a ring. I copied, my arms held in a ready position although I knew I was hopelessly outmatched. I mostly did it to show that I wasn't afraid. The initial shock had faded away. I thought it was Fred, because I remember reading that he liked to use combat knives, two of which he held currently in his hands. His eyes seemed to focus on mine, like he was trying to intimidate me. I glared back defiantly. He almost seemed curious, like I was a bug in an insect exhibit. He cocked his head to the side, almost an impression of John. I yelled, maybe John or Kelly would hear me. I didn't think Fred would keep this cautious curiosity up for long.

"Keeeellly! Jooohn! I found him!"

_Frederic-104_

_The child yelled for two people, using names I remembered. She knew them? I twirled my knives restlessly. I didn't_ want _to attack. She did not seem a threat, she was a civilian, and I did not attack them. This child was ferocious, glaring at me like I wasn't even holding weapons, like I was tiny. I was a little surprised, I had only encountered civilians screaming and running. I continued to circle around her. She followed suit, so I had some time to think. I knew Kelly had survived, but I couldn't find her. John however was a different story. The Human Covenant War had ripped the Spartan IIs apart and it was sheer luck that Kelly, Linda and I and a few other Spartans had stuck together. I hadn't seen John for over twenty _years. _I decided that I would ask the child a question, because I was utterly stumped._

"_John and Kelly?"_

_The child replied, her tone one of utter anger. She obviously was scared, but covering it up with rage-imbued words._

"_Yeah, and they're gonna come and save me, you don't scare me one bit, you and your tough act and twirling knives."_

_Heh. This wasn't a tough act, it was my normal act. I darted forward, slipping my knives back into their sheaths and gliding past her, hooking my arm around her small neck. I didn't do it hard enough to choke her, but enough so that she was dragged backwards. Her small legs kicked wildly. The child viciously bit my arm, but I didn't feel anything. I turned around, so I was facing towards her back, looking over her head._

Emily

Fred put me into a hostage position, like I had seen in the movies when the murderer had a gun or a knife. I bit his arm, trying _trying_ to get him to let ME _GO_. I didn't like the feeling that I was weak, that I couldn't fight back. I hollered loudly, knowing that his enhanced hearing would hurt his ears. I tortured him as best I could, so I felt a little better.

"I'll STOP WHEN YOU LET ME GOOOOOOO!" I screamed in a loud opera singer's voice.

John would probably hear me from one kilometre away. I could feel Fred's breath over the top of my head; he was at least two or three feet taller than me. I was probably hard for him to hold me in this position, considering that. I felt him shift behind me; it was obviously extremely uncomfortable, me yelling this close to his ear.

_Kelly-087_

_I heard Emily clearly. She was obviously with Fred, because I didn't think that an alien would take her hostage. She wouldn't be saying anything at all if she had met one. I wondered if John had heard. I thought if I should let him take the situation, because I honestly did not think the child worth saving. Emily yelled out my name, Kelly, so she seemed to think that I would help her. I sighed quietly. John would chew me out if I didn't intervene. I ran back down the corridor at full pelt, my quick reaction times meant I could dodge any obstruction. I dug in my heels and skidded around the corner, coming face to face with John. I nodded to him and he did likewise, and we both ran straight through the middle of the ship. I saw Fred holding Emily, an arm around her throat. I slid to a stop._

Emily

Kelly and John came running down the hallway, so fast their legs were blurs. I yelled again, enjoying the obvious discomfort that Frederic-104 was experiencing.

"SEE!? THEY CAME TO SAAAAAAVE MEEEEE!"

I noticed Kelly and John flinching slightly, so I stopped. I knew I was safe anyway.

"John?" said Fred, his tone flat, but he was trying to mask up his disbelief and I knew it.

"I'll tell you later. Let the child go." he ordered.

Instead I felt the arm tighten, and I found it significantly harder to breathe. Twice. Twice I had been taken hostage today, first by Kelly. I gasped.

"Fred, let her go."

I was surprised that Kelly even cared; John hadn't seemed to think so.

"Frederic-104, I order you, let go of the civilian."

There it was, the _command._ Fred let me go, and I collapsed gasping, onto the floor. No one seemed to care that I was in a state of shock, sitting on the floor and rocking back and forth. The Spartans had a quick conversation and Fred was told of John and I's adventures. I heard Fred sigh with relief.

"I thought you were dead, John."

"It takes more than a few Covenant to kill me."

I didn't really hear this, as my mind was foggy. I was so scared from the incident with Frederic-104. I tried to tell myself that it wasn't his fault that he was just following what he had been taught since he was six. I felt a small tug and I was lifted to roughly to my feet. I looked upwards through my tear streaked eyes. They met a pair of icy-blue ones, John's.

"Are you okay?"

I noticed the crowd of faces around me. They didn't seem worried, just a little concerned. I didn't reply; my mind was playing back the horror and fear of being held hostage. Repeat. Rewind. Repeat. I couldn't handle it.

I passed out.

_John-117_

_Emily's eyes closed and she fell limp. I gently lowered her to the ground. I knew what feeling she had felt, but I could not understand it. I glanced mean fully at Fred and he shifted uncomfortably._

"_Someone will have to carry her." I announced, looking sideways again at Fred._

"_I will, John." Fred reluctantly agreed._

_I stepped back from Emily's limp body, examining her to make sure that she was not injured. She seemed to be fine, the expression on her face apparent to be one of peace. Frederic-104 strode forward, lifting the child over his shoulder in a fireman's carry position. He dwarfed the child, almost amusingly. His arms alone were wider than Emily's head. Kelly watched the scene with a small expression of disgust. She obviously was not impressed that Emily had fainted, meaning that she would hamper the team._

"_We should just tie her up and leave her here."_

"_She would starve and die. She is hungry already as it is. We all are." I replied with a hint of anger in my voice._

"_Kelly, what is wrong?" asked Fred._

_I already knew. Kelly was jealous. For some reason when I told her about the time that Emily had spent with me I could almost imagine her face turning green. I didn't know if Kelly actually _liked _me, I probably should ask Emily when she wakes up. She would know what to do._

Emily

I woke up on a medbay bed, yawning. I had somewhat recovered from the incident with Frederic-104 and now I was _hungry_. I looked about for one of the somewhat annoyingly suspicious and serious Spartan IIs. I spotted John just outside the door, and I attempted to catch his eye. He was standing three metres away, side on. He was talking with Kelly, and it seemed to be sternly. Fred was nowhere to be seen. I waited five minutes and decided I'd had enough.

"JOHN! I WILL EAT FRED WHEN HE COMES BACK IF YOU'RE NOT CAREFUL!"

The Spartans winced at my yells. I had found a weakness, and I enjoyed exploiting it. They seemed to realise it. John turned his head, and I shut my mouth instantly. His eyes seemed to suggest he was _very_ unhappy with my screaming. Kelly did the same. I blushed. I was trying to prove myself to them, and screaming like a toddler was certainly _not_ assisting me in my task. I looked at the floor, chastened. I sat there like that for twenty minutes, until I heard heavy footsteps and I looked up into brown eyes. It was Fred and he was holding what looked like a muesli bar out to me. I took it, mumbling gratefully. I looked into his eyes and he said something completely unexpected.

"I am sorry for scaring you earlier."

My eyes widened in surprise.

"Um…That's okay Fred. I knew it wasn't on purpose."

"Thank you. Could you please, preferably, not, _eat_ me?"

I rolled off the bed laughing, taking the expression "ROFL" (Roll on floor laughing) a little too seriously. I rolled onto my back and looked up at Fred, towering over me.

"Truce?" he asked.

I managed to stem my laughter.

"Truce." I agreed.

It sounded weird; it was something a kid would say after an argument. I guessed he thought of the word militarywise, like a ceasefire or something. I slowly got up, sometimes uttering small outbursts of giggling. I accidently grabbed Fred's arm, trying to steady myself, but he didn't seem to mind, looking at me with amusement in his eyes. He was a little less serious than John. Kelly was just arrogant, with a fair amount of annoying in there too. I attempted to shut my mouth, I was a few feet away from Fred, and I didn't want my laughter to deafen him. I actually felt bad now.

"Umm…I'm sorry too, for screaming at you earlier. I knew it hurt your ears."

"It's okay. It is actually pretty smart, to find your enemies' weakness, and exploit it."

I grinned at the praise, and I felt like I could dance a little jig. Not one of these Spartans had _ever_ praised me before.

"Please do _not_ grow a big head Emily. John would most certainly notice."

I collapsed on the floor again, this time tears streaming from my eyes.

"S…stoppp! I can't eat my food if you keep doing this to me! This torture!"

Frederic-104 was silent, and I knew he was doing it so I could finally _stop_ laughing. I recovered and stood again, taking my weird food bar and biting into it. I almost spat it out. I tasted like _cardboard._ I looked at Fred with dismay, chewing disdainfully.

"It is dehydrated. It is the only thing to eat. It is barely enough for ourselves."

I guessed "ourselves" meant John and Kelly. I ate the bar then proceeded to glance past Fred's waist at them. They seemed to come to an agreement, Kelly looking at the floor and John nodding once. They both turned and observed Fred and I. Fred stiffened, and I knew that he could feel their gaze on his back. He turned and I walked next to him, glancing at John and Kelly nervously. I knew that they had been discussing me while I had been unconscious. They strode over, halting in front of me. John stepped forward, crouching so his eyes were level with mine.

"This could be dangerous. You could die. Are you sure you want to come with us? We are searching for the escape pods."

I tensed my jaw, trying to look tough. I knew what they were planning anyway, and I had pre-prepared a sentence.

"Hell yeah, John."

_Two hours later_

Emily

I thwacked away the leaves with my hand. The forest around me was dense and thick, the atmosphere chokingly heavy. I sweated, my bra sticking to me annoyingly. The Spartans and I had set out, but not before they had raided the food storage facility, also finding water there. They had also found some heavy duty bags which we had stuffed full of supplies. There was a long trek to the forest at the edge of the impact site, during so the Spartans had been silent and respectful, obviously thinking about their fallen comrades. The long ditch where the ship had ploughed into the earth was deep, at least ten or twenty stories so and just as wide. I looked ahead, trying to spot the sneaky Spartans. They moved so quietly, so stealthily, it was almost as if they weren't there. I sighed. My legs ached and I needed a drink. I didn't yell, because I knew the Spartans wanted stealth, and they could hear me anyway.

"Guys, c'mon. I don't have super strength and endurance and I almost certainly can't walk as fast as you."

I continued my painfully slow waddle, stepping over tree roots and vines. I eventually caught up with the Spartans, sitting on fallen tree logs. They were discussing something as I arrived.

"Do you know what planet this is?" asked John.

"No, we attempted to slipspace jump away from the Covenant ships, but we put in random coordinates to try and throw them off. We are in an unknown system." replied Kelly.

I decided to intervene, throwing myself down onto the ground in the small clearing.

"Well, that's demoralizing. Thanks, Kelly." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

The Spartans turned their heads at the same time to look at me. It gave the effect of robots moving in sync, their eyes focusing on me. It was creepy.

"We need to keep moving. The first pod is still at least one or two kilometres away." assumed Fred.

"I agree." John approved.

"But we can't make good time, because of _her." _ Kelly snorted.

"Then we won't make her walk."

John glanced meaning fully at her.

"Are you suggesting I carry her?"

"Yes."

Kelly grumbled angrily.

I smirked.

_Four hours later_

Emily

We arrived at the first pod, the Spartans barely tired. John began to search the craft, looking for the radio. The small craft rocked wildly and his head poked out of the entry bay.

"There are bodies in here, none of them Spartans. The radio is fried as well, and I don't think Linda was in this one."

I sighed tiredly, flopping down onto the ground. I heard a branch snap behind me and I whirled around, standing up. Kelly and Fred had already done so, crouching into a ready position. There was silence for a few seconds. One, two, three, four, fi-. My thought was cut off as two huge aliens, the same kind that had attacked John, charged out of the bush, drawing their plasma swords. Each was larger than the Spartan IIs, at least eight or nine feet. Kelly dodged nimbly to one side, and Fred ducked under the swords. John ran to stand in front of me. I was surprised and happy. I watched the scene, peering past John's waist. Kelly was a blur, dodging and weaving the punches and sword swipes the aliens attempted to hit her with. She grabbed its wrist, snapping it instantly. It roared and dropped its plasma sword, and she drew her combat knife, burying it into its neck. It snarled once, then fell to the ground and was still. Fred had simply broken the Covenant alien's neck with an uppercut. My mouth dropped open. I hadn't seen anything move so fast in my life. Neither of the Spartans seemed even the slightest puffed.

"Holy CRAP!" I exclaimed.

John, Kelly and Fred exchanged looks.

"We need to find the next escape pods, a radio and Linda fast. There could be more."

I groaned. More walking.

Over the course of the day we found one more pod, John pronouncing the radio fried as well. Linda was also not present, no tracks or trace found of her. I currently walked at the end of the single file line, bringing up the rear. I was talking to John, who had let Fred take point position for a while, dropping back to keep an eye on me.

"So what we gonna do if we find Linda but not a radio?"

"Then we will find the Covenant's temporary base and hijack a ship."

They had encountered four more aliens on their trek, leading Kelly to think they must have a base.

"Hey John, I always wanted to ask, what do you think of the Spartan IVs?"

He thought for a moment.

"Unprofessional and reckless. Sarah in particular. They seem to think that they know what they are doing yet clearly they don't."

"Yeah, I once read an article back in my world that they had special stuff done to their muscles or something. I didn't really pay attention that much, but apparently I think the enhancement was almost as good as yours."

"I don't think so. They seemed sluggish when I practised my hand to hand combat on them. I could dodge them easily."

I giggled at "on them", and I thought of the hurt egos they must have sustained.

"They can also run at around seventy kilometres per hour without their armour."

John raised his eyebrow, ever so slightly.

"I can run that fast _with_ armour."

"Oooh, aren't you mister competition?"

He proceeded to look down at me and glare.

"John, move to point position." came a soft voice ahead of us.

I ran after him, even though he was just walking briskly. Fred and Kelly were staring at something.

It was Linda, standing in front of an escape pod. She had orange hair and green eyes and she was surrounded by at least twenty Covenant. I knew that the Spartans would be hard pressed to kill them all. John's eyes narrowed angrily and his pupils shrunk like they do when he thought. I noticed that he seemed to favour his left arm and leg and I realised that he was still quite injured. The bandage around his side was soaked with blood, the wound hadn't sealed itself properly yet. I was worried, I knew that he seemed to be fine, but he was in danger of dying.

"We will have to fight head on. I'm not letting Linda die."

"You're hurt John. You won't be able to fight." pointed out Fred.

"Besides, who will use the radio? The escape pod's need a power source to work." said Kelly.

"That's what I've been thinking about. And I know the perfect person. Emily will do it. She is small enough to run through the battle without being noticed."

I gasped. I could get killed! But I knew very well that we would die anyway if we couldn't get to the radio. The Spartans turned to me, questioningly, their gazes asking me if I would agree. I nodded firmly.

"Emily Taylor, master of stealth at your service. I'll do it."

"John, you be careful. I don't want you dying and the rest of us surviving." said Kelly.

"On three. Two, one. Go!" John ordered.

They charged out, and I stayed behind. I was waiting until they got the fight underway. Three aliens were dead in ten seconds, the big ones that had attacked us before. A swarm of little ones ran out of the escape pod, yelling and waving their hands about. They had gas masks and a small tank on their back, they obviously couldn't breathe oxygen. The other big Covenant reacted and drew their plasma swords; they clearly thought the Spartans would be fighting in close quarters. I decided it was time and ran out, darting into the escape pod. I looked about frantically for the radio, and I squeezed into the cockpit. I spotted it and pressed the small switch next to it, grabbing the headset on the dash. I began repeating the sentence that John had drilled into me, broadcasting over all frequencies.

"Any UNSC personnel please respond. We are on an unknown planet and need immediate evac. All personnel please respond. Covenant are present, I repeat, Covenant are present."

_On the UNSC Infinity_

_Sir, we are picking up a radio signal, very similar to that of an escape pod. It's coming from coordinates that has not been travelled to yet. Would you like me to amplify it?" asked a monitor operator . He glanced at the man standing on the edge of the window, looking into space. He turned and spoke._

"_Permission granted. Put in through the speakers." commander Thomas Lasky ordered._

_The voice was very hard to understand, and was breaking up badly._

"_Ann….y UNS…Persone…pleaaaa….respond. We are ooonnn…unknow…..anet neeeeeed….evaaaac…..all…persone…..plea….respond. Covenaaaant….are prese….I reeepeat, Covenannnt are prrreeesent…."_

_The commander started in surprise. Could that be the ship that had disappeared, the precious cargo of the remaining Spartan IIs nowhere to be found? He thought he could recognize the voice….Could that be Emily? Had she appeared with John? The Spartan II had gone through that light. _

"_Sir, I have a fix on the signal. Shall we initiate a slipspace jump and investigate?" asked another deck officer._

"_Roger. Fire up the translight drive."_

_A round, rotating hole appeared in the front of the ship, no light emanating from it. The UNSC Infinity slipped inside, the hole in space and time closing behind it._

Emily

I repeated the sentence over and over again until a noise behind me broke me away from my task. I barely heard it through the ruckus outside. I turned and screamed. A small alien was pointing a stubby plasma pistol at me. I froze in terror. I didn't have a gun, so I couldn't shoot it. I closed my eyes and waited for my impending death. I heard the alien screech in pain and my eyes snapped open. Linda-058 had stuck a combat knife into its back, and spoke quickly to me. The alien collapsed to the ground, dead.

"Keep transmitting. If the Infinity slipspace jumps to this location, she will be attacked by the remaining Covenant ships orbiting. There is a chance she may deploy a Pelican to evac us while she fights. She may have a strong enough signal on us to reply."

I took the advice and continued repeating the same sentence, my voice cracking. Linda rushed back outside, presumably to continue the fight. My throat was dry, and the Spartans IIs had drunk the rest of the water. I finished one repetition and I must have jumped at least a foot off the seat as a strong and clear voice replied. I felt a flush of excitement as I realised the voice was Thomas Lasky.

"We hear you loud and clear. We are engaging numerous Covenant ships currently, a team of Pelicans should arrive shortly. UNSC Infinity out."

_Kelly-087_

_I dodged the plasma sword easily. My incredible speed meant that it moved in slow motion. I punched upwards, breaking the Elite's neck instantly. I heard a roar and a whoosh behind me and I ducked and whipped around, swinging my fist. It connected with the alien's sword arm and I felt it give way, the sharp points of bone erupting from its wrist. It roared in pain and dropped the sword, and I picked it up, igniting it again. I slashed the Elite in half, and tried to do the same with the next one, but the plasma sword was out of energy and it spluttered and died. I swore, dodging again and breaking the alien's skull with a punch. I couldn't keep this up for long, the damned evac better come soon. More Elites swarmed out of the forest and I realised it had been an ambush. I spotted Fred single handedly fighting three of the big aliens, his combat knives wreaking havoc. Linda had joined in the fight as soon as the Covenant's attention was diverted. John used his impressive strength, matching punches with the Elites._

_UNSC Infinity_

_Calculations ran rapidly through his head as he called out degrees, guiding the Infinity to fire upon the Covenant ships. The Infinity's database confirmed one of the three ships to be a CAS-Class Assault Carrier, its name Shadow Of Intent. The other two were CPV Class Heavy Destroyers, the database naming one Esteem, the other unknown. Alone, they were no match for the UNSC Infinity, but as one they could break down her shields._

"_One hundred and thirty degrees, fire one MAC round at Assault Carrier."_

_Magnetic Accelerator Cannons fired fifteen centimetre rounds, with one point one gigajoules of kinetic energy. Lasky was aiming to destroy the carrier's shields before firing the Infinity's Archer missiles. The round spat from the nose of the Infinity, pummelling into the alien ship's shields, but they held. Their energy was depleted, however._

"_Fire three hundred Archer missiles at hostile carrier."_

_The deck crew complied, the missiles speeding toward the purple Covenant ship. As some made contact with the shields, the nearly impenetrable barrier collapsed and others smacked into the spaceship, ripping it in half._

"_We're taking fire sir! Our shields are holding strongly."_

_Blooms of light exploded around the Infinity, the Heavy Destroyers firing their plasma cannons at her._

"_Fifty degrees! Fire primary MAC cannons, three seconds after each other!"_

_The deck crew increased the power to the Infinity's engines and fired the port manoeuvring rockets, the five kilometre long ship yawing to the right. One MAC round spat from the nose of the Infinity, closely followed by another. The Heavy Destroyers' shields were not as strong as the carriers, one MAC round destroying it, the shield disintegrating with a flash of light and the second round slammed into it, ripping the front of it off._

"_Shields at fifty percent sir!"_

"_Ninety degrees! Repeat previous firing solution!"_

_The second Heavy Destroyer fell to the Infinity's might._

"_Send a Pelican squadron down to the planet, give them the coordinates to the radio signal location."_

"_Aye, aye sir." _

Emily

"Engagement of hostile ships successful, Pelican squadron has been sent down to dust you off."

I pressed the transmit button.

"Roger, roger, all Covenant at our location defeated, awaiting evac."

I grinned happily, turning to look at the Spartans watching me. They, surprisingly, produced a small smile as well.

"We're getting out of this hellhole! Yeeha!" I crowed.

_Three days later_

Emily

John was expected to make a full recovery, and I was glad of it. I sat on the bed in my old room on the Infinity. John had seemed to return to his stoic-yet-slightly-funny attitude in a few days. I told myself he went like that because he had been in a combat situation, and that his mind automatically changed itself.

"Emily? Thomas would like to speak to you."

Cortana appeared on the hologram projector next to the bed. I sighed. I was still tired from the incident on the planet.

_Twenty minutes later_

Emily

"I called you here to discuss your future. As of yet, that strange light has not appeared to take you back. My question is, what would _you_ want to do while you wait?"

I thought for a moment. I shifted on the hard chair in the small grey room.

"I wanna clean the Spartan's armour!"

Sarah Palmer grinned, speaking for Thomas.

"That can be arranged!" she said enthusiastically.

I groaned. She probably would make me polish and wax it as well.


	4. The Mob Goes Elsewhere (sequel)

THE MOB GOES ELSEWHERE

Emily

"Race ya to the Climbing Tree from the Wirraglen building!" I challenged.

Chloe eyed me cautiously. She knew what she was up against, a lean speed machine. For some reason, after John and the other Spartans and I had escaped from the planet, they had given me some sort of fitness regime. Probably cause I complained so much when we were trekking across the unknown planet. Now I was the fastest kid ever at Wirraglen. I grimaced as remembered the training. More like torture. I had to deal with that for a week before that damned light had taken me back. A loud thumping noise alerted me to Chloe's sly decision. CHEATER! She had run ahead, her long brown hair flowing in the breeze. Time to show her what real speed was. I leapt from a standstill to an all-out run, flashing past kids. I was goin so fast I couldn't see their faces. Small, soft, oval shaped green leaves drifted down slowly around me, oblivious to the heated race that was going on. I passed Chloe, turning to run backwards.

"You messed with da master!" I crowed. Chloe scowled fiercely.

"How do you do that? Not faaaaaairr!" she complained.

I continued running, sliding to a stop at the Climbing Tree. I dug in my heels like I had seen John do. As Oliver and Daisy were waiting, I decided to show off a little. I twisted to the side, skidding along and spraying dirt everywhere. Oliver threw up his hands to protect his face.

"Eurrrgh! STOP IT!"

"But I _am_ stopping!" I said cunningly.

Oliver screwed up his nose. His short brown fringe drifted in the wind.

"I think _he_ has imprinted on you too much."

I shushed him. Chloe arrived, puffing and panting.

"Whaazat? Whaaatz yhu say?"

I grinned wolfishly.

"Too late! You missed it! Along with your victory!"

"Something about you know who?"

I growled inwardly. Sticky beak!

"None of your business. Oliver? Why is your dad here? Shouldn't he be at work?"

His mother and father, Rose and Samuel were trudging slowly up the slope to the climbing tree.

"Eh, I think he gets off early today. Not sure."

I leaned back against the Climbing Tree's trunk, the bark worn smooth by the hundreds of feet that had trod on it. I lifted myself up onto a fork and waited for them to arrive.

"What brings you here, fellow humans?" I questioned.

Oliver giggled.

"Your mo-"

The light decided to appear behind him. Yes. _The _light. Chloe's eyes widened as she recognised it. Oliver's mouth dropped. Daisy dropped her bag. Samuel gaped. Rose froze. I cursed.

"Not again! DAMN YOU DESTINY!"

And we were sucked in.

I opened my eyes and the first thing I said was….

"OWWWEEEEEE!" I hollered.

I had landed on Rose. Daisy, luckily, had landed on Oliver and not the other way round. I checked above me. Thank _God_ Chloe wasn't sitting on me. She appeared a meter away, landing on her bottom.

"Ow!" she exclaimed.

Samuel was nowhere to be seen. I had a look around. We were in a largish room, all metal. Neon lights glowed above my head. Strangely, there was no furniture. But there was something watching us, and I was pretty sure it was alive. I scrambled off of Rose, slipping over and landing on my face. I was staring at a pair of black boots. I sat back, looking up. Into an unimpressed looking face with a lot of scars and icy-blue eyes, his spiky black hair outlined as he looked down at me.

"ARRGH! JOHN?! Oh. Hi."

He raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

"Don't gimme that look! You know the drill, light appears, you get sucked in, voilà."

He looked over my head, observing my friends in his cold, calculating way.

"_More _of them?" asked a voice from behind me.

I turned to look, receiving a face full of lapels and epaulettes, and extremely shiny buttons. The owner of the blinding array of shiny metal things had a familiar face, with brown eyes and hair, slightly wrinkled. I shielded my eyes from the intense glimmer created from his ridiculously polished buttons.

"Ugh! Thommaaas! Why?!"

He smiled a little.

"Good to see you too." he said sarcastically.

_Daisy_

_Emily cringed away from the man-with-shiny-stuff, exclaiming in surprise. He said something and Emily gave him a nasty look. A big woman was standing behind him in white armour, she looked similar to the things that daddy liked, from Halo. She had copper hair and she was watching me intently. I was more worried by the big-scary-man-with-creepy-eyes. I was thankful he was watching my seven year old brother, Oliver. However, the man seemed to know I was watching him and his eyes flicked over to me. I shuffled backwards as far as I could on my bottom, but I reached the wall and stayed there. Scary man! I wanted mummy! But she was on the other side of this guy. Daddy? I couldn't see him anywhere. I looked up at the scary-man's eyes. They seemed to grow curious. I sniffed and a tear rolled down my cheek. I wanted mum! The icy eyes grew slightly concerned. I squeezed my eyes shut, and three more big tears leaked out. I heard a slithering, sliding sound and I opened my eyes to look. The big man had crouched, catlike in front of me, his hand on its way to my face. I flinched away, but the hand did not heed it and continued. I closed my eyes again, waiting to see what would happen. Nothing did. I looked again and I found that he had flicked away my tears. His head was cocked to the side, his eyes curious, like I was a new zoo animal. He looked into one of my eyes then the other, like he was a child learning, examining. He seemed satisfied and he stepped back, leaving the way for mummy clear. I looked up at him and stood. He wasn't scary anymore. The way he cocked his head to the side was kinda cute, like a puppy. I liked puppies. Everyone was watching; even Emily stopped squabbling with the man-with-shiny-stuff, pausing with her mouth open._

"_Daisy, come here please." mummy asked._

_I ran over, leaping into her cuddle. I turned to look at the big man. He was watching me with that look again. I grinned as widely as I could at him. He cocked his head again, and this time I thought I could just make out the ghost of a smile._

Emily

"Errum….Oliver, Daisy, Rose…..That's Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, this guy over here with the annoying shiny stuff is Commander Thomas Lasky, and this big woman over here in the shiny white stuff is Spartan Sarah Palmer. She's the Spartan Commander, but try not to tell her or she'll brag.

I shot Lasky another glare. I was personally going to dirty his shiny stuff after this. Rose blinked.

"But they're from the game that my husband plays…?"

"Trust me. They are real. The Master Chief is real."

I poked John multiple times and he glowered at me. Chloe poked him too.

"Huh….So he is, so he is."

John, naturally, didn't comment. He just glared at Chloe as well.

"So the big scary man has a name? Haaaiii! John!" yelled Daisy.

She jumped up and down in front of him, waving her hands about. John's eyes fixed on her hands, flailing about. He also cringed. She was yelling at him, and of course, she deafened him.

"Erm….Daisy…..You do realise that you're making him deaf?" I asked.

"Eh? Nope. Okay then, sorry John. But hai anyway."

We all stepped back from John. I knew that he didn't like to be crowded and that he didn't like attention, partly because he was so different. And, just then, for some reason, Samuel decided to make an entrance. Onto John. He appeared a meter above him, landing on his shoulders. John grunted, but his knees barely bent and his eyes flashed up, glittering with dangerous intent. He fell to the ground, rolling over Samuel. The struggle was over in less than ten seconds, ending with Samuel pressed to the ground with a combat knife to his throat. I leapt forward, knowing what he was about to do. I thumped the end of my fist onto his shoulder blades, yelling. I knew it would distract him.

"OI! JOHN! FRIEND! ALLY! WHATEVER!" I screamed into his ear.

I continued to pound him, feeling the muscle running over his shoulders shift as he recoiled uncomfortably away from me.

"OFF!" I repeated.

Sarah Palmer _finally_ decided to step in.

"Petty Officer John-117, stand down." she commanded.

The reaction was instantaneous and relieving. John sprang up and away, stepping away from Samuel. He glanced at me with some apology noticeable. He sheathed his combat knife. Rose scrambled past me, and the others just stood gaping. John had moved like lightning. I punched John on the arm and scowled at him.

"That's my friend's father you just messed around with!"

"You really gotta stop trying to kill people." commented Oliver, standing next to me.

"I can't." he said quietly.

He turned away, closing his eyes. I shoved Oliver sideways, the message clear.

Really? C'mon. You went there?

Daisy tugged on my sleeve and I looked down.

"What's wrong with John?"

"Oliver just said something nasty, that's all."

Daisy decided to meter out punishment for me; she stood on his toes and he howled, jumping backwards. Samuel had now recovered, and was rubbing his neck. Rose fussed around him. He glared at John, whose gaze was suddenly focused full strength on him. He looked away. I expected as much.

"So where the heck even are we?" asked Chloe.

Lasky answered her.

"You are on the pride and joy of the UNSC fleet, the Infinity."

"What kind of fleet? I don't hear any water."

Sarah snorted.

"Spaceship." she coughed.

Samuel gaped.

"INFINITY?! But..but…that's in a computer game!"

For some reason John decided to sharpen his knife.

"Nope! This guy here is John-117, you probably know him as the Master Chief, that over there is Commander Thomas Lasky, and that rather big grumpy looking woman over there is Commander Sarah Palmer!"

Palmer scowled. I grinned wider.

"I'm not fat!" she exclaimed.

I raised both eyebrows incredulously.

"Then it must be your armour making your butt look big."

"Can you get back on subject? Where are we? Why did we all suddenly get here in a flash of light?" asked Samuel.

"Okay. You're in the year 2558, Halo world, in space, on the Infinity. The "light" brought you here."

"Why?"

I growled as my answer. Samuel pointed to John.

"So you're saying that's the Master Chief?"

"Ja." I said with a German accent.

"How am I supposed to know you aren't tricking me?"

"I'll show you his hearing then. You know Spartans can hear a pin drop in a sandstorm, right?"

I walked twenty meters away to the other wall and whispered a sentence.

"John wins, you lose, better go drink booze."

John cocked his head to the side, listening. I ran over as he was repeating the sentence. Oliver, Daisy and Chloe killed themselves laughing. The flat monotone coupled with a straight face and the silly sentence was extremely funny. Sarah covered her mouth with an armoured hand, failing to cover up her amusement; snorting. Thomas grinned. Rose seemed to fail to cover up her laughter too, and she smirked. Samuel's mouth dropped and he backed away.

"It really…is…."

I turned to Lasky.

"So what you going to do to us? Urrm…. I mean, with us."

He thought for a moment.

"I don't know….What kids do? Explore?"

I widened my eyes in mock shock.

"You would let us run about and trash the Infinity? Yee haa!"

He shot me a sarcastic look.

"Yes, go smash through the three meters of titanium A battleplate on this door."

He opened it with his keycard, exposing the busy nature outside. People were carrying things, little buggies were driving about in the long, tall grey hall.

"You expect us to go through THAT? It's worse than a shopping spree!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Well…I suppose I could lock you in here…" Lasky threatened, stepping outside along with John and Sarah, reaching forward to scan his keycard again and lock the door.

"Nooo! Waaait! I show them around! I've been here before, remember?" I yelled.

John raised an eyebrow. I scowled and Samuel noticed the exchange. He glanced at me curiously.

"You're friends aren't you?"

I tossed my head impatiently, dragging Oliver, Daisy and Chloe out the door.

"Yeah, so what."

"Nevermind. You wouldn't understand."

John reacted by glaring.

"She would understand perfectly. She is not dumb."

Samuel's eyes widened. His voice confirmed that is was in fact John, and that this wasn't a hoax.

"John! Can you take the boring adults? I wanna "explore" with my friends." I said, glancing haughtily at Lasky.

John cocked his head to the side, glancing at Palmer. Probably asking permission. She nodded, and the Spartan II glanced expectantly at Samuel and Rose. They didn't move and he blinked three times.

"JUST GO WITH HIM!" I roared.

They were startled into action and John wheeled about, striding away with the parents in tow.

"Well, that's done then, I suppose. Come on then."

_Ten minutes later_

I walked along a cat walk with Oliver, Chloe and Daisy, looking down into the mass of Spartans. The room was huge, at least one hundred meters high, and just as wide. A lot of the Spartans were on treadmills lining the middle, probably training. They didn't seem to be running very fast.

"Wow. There are a lot of them…." Oliver commented.

"Yeah, but they are all sucky Spartan IVs." I huffed.

"Look at that one!" Chloe exclaimed, pointing.

She was showing me one with short blonde hair and brown eyes. He didn't seem to notice us. We were ten meters above his head, anyway.

"What about him?" I asked.

"Lemme see! Lemme see!" cried Daisy.

"Um….he's kinda cute, I suppose."

I snorted. Spartans tend to be cute far away, but scary up close.

"Shutup Chloe! He's waaaay older than you. Spartan IV's were conscripted as adults. Come off it."

"Well, you think John is cute, don't you?"

I frowned thunderously, like John.

"_I am not cute_." I said, mimicking him.

Oliver killed himself laughing.

"You do that really well, sounds just like him."

"Who's that?" Chloe pointed at yet ANOTHER Spartan.

I squinted. He towered above the rest of the crowd, watching another Spartan of similar size running on a treadmill. It was a she, and I recognized the pair.

"Frederic-104! And Kelly-087!"

I charged down the catwalk steps, Oliver and Chloe puffing and panting behind. Daisy trumped along slowly. I barged through the Spartan IV's, and made it to Fred.

"Hai! Fred!"

He whirled about.

"Emily?"

"Yeah! Hi Kelly! Nice running, by the way."

She was running at sixty kilometres an hour. She smiled a little at me, and then continued.

"I heard you appeared with some…._friends_." Fred said, examining Chloe.

"Ya. That twelve year old you're scrutinizing rudely is Chloe, and this is Oliver. He's only seven, and that little girl over there is Daisy."

Fred cocked his head to the side like John, ignoring completely the "rudely" comment.

"Heey….John does that doesn't he?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, that's cause Fred is in his squad! He's a Spartan II as well! So is Kelly."

Chloe waved, grinning.

"Hai!"

Fred proceeded to tilt his head further.

"Why is your friend flailing her hand at me?"

Wow. I knew the Spartan II's were socially deficit…..But not so much they didn't know what "waving" was."

"She's saying hello."

"Is it normal to say hello like that?"

Chloe and Oliver watched the exchange closely.

"Um….Yeah…"

Fred nodded, Kelly observing quietly, besides the thumping of her feet on the treadmill.

"Okay. I'll remember that."

"I-"

The floor rolled under my feet, tilting to the right. Everything and everyone slide sideways. I went with it, smacking my head on a treadmill. I knocked myself out.

_Frederic-104_

_The floor rolled to the right, throwing everything around. Not me, however. I whipped out my combat knife sinking it into the soft metal of the floor. I grabbed Chloe and Oliver, tucking them under my left arm, my right on the knife. I glanced around for Kelly and Emily. Too late for Emily, as the floor continued to pitch almost vertically, she slid and whacked her head, knocking herself out. Kelly had done the same as me, Daisy attached to her leg. Three Spartan IV's slid past, grabbing onto my leg. The weight my knife was supporting tripled. I watched as it began to slip out of the hole I had put through the metal. Chloe watched too, Oliver hiding his eyes in my arm. Chloe reached forward for a now horizontal bar. I let her go and she hoisted herself up onto it and the weight lessened. Then, the moment was over. The floor levelled, and I got up, setting down Oliver and running to check on Emily. She had hit a treadmill. I grabbed her head, tilting it in my hands. The impact hadn't seemed to puncture her skin, just knocking her out. She stirred, mumbling._

"_mpfm…..John?"_

"_No. Fred." I replied._

_Her eyes opened, unfocused and rolling about. She was concussed and probably amnesiatic. Chloe and Oliver scrambled over, tripping on overturned objects, and occasionally, a Spartan still on the floor. Kelly crouched next to me._

"_She alright?" Oliver asked._

_I didn't reply, lifting Emily up with ease and putting her over my shoulder._

"_I'm taking her to the medbay. I want to make sure she doesn't have any brain damage."_

"_That's a bit…..worrying…" Chloe muttered._

"_Poor Emily…" murmured Daisy._

_I turned and strode through the middle of the mess, walking to the hallway at the end of the room. People scrambled to get out of my way, cleaning up the mess. Emily fell limp again, unconscious._

Emily

I felt a soft mattress and pillow under my body and head. I cracked open my eyes and saw a blurred mess of faces and eyes. One pair in particular stood out, an unbelievable icy blue. They came into focus and I noticed that they seemed fixed on me. The faces also came into focus. Oliver's little brown face had a worried frown on it and his soft chocolate eyes were worried. Daisy's blue eyes looked brimming with tears. Samuel was chewing his lip nervously. Rose was the same. Fred looked down at me too, his usually hard brown eyes soft and concerned.

"Errhh…Hawat happand?" I slurred sleepily.

John replied.

"The Infinity engaged two alien ships. She had to roll sharply. Lasky sends you his apologies."

"Heh…That's aw ri'"

Chloe's head appeared.

"You okay Emily?"

"I dushunno! Iwm nut a dactor!"

"She's alright." smirked Oliver.

I sat up and became aware of a dull ache in my head and I remembered I got knocked out. I looked about the room. It was white and only about five meters in diameter and six in length. The door was closed, but through the windows I could see it branched off from a white hallway. People came and went along it, pushing trays of delicious food. My stomach growled agreement. The Wirraglen gang didn't react, probably because they didn't hear it, but John's lips twitched in the ghost of a smile. His eyes flicked over to the low bedside table on my left. I glanced over and saw a whole plate of….._chicken and sauce!_ My mind screamed to scoff it. Oliver picked it up and gave it to me, and I grabbed it eagerly.

It was gone in less than three minutes. I yawned widely and snuggled down.

"What's the time?"

Fred blinked at me funny.

"We are in space. No time."

"Yeah, EARTH time. I'm tired and I don't particularly want to fall asleep in the middle of the day."

A doctor strode in. He overheard the conversation and commented.

"It's around five pm. I'm here to check on the reports your monitoring machine has created. I apologize for my rudeness, but Emily's friends will have to leave. She needs to rest, she had a particularly nasty bonk on the head."

John and Fred shrugged. They turned and strode out. Oliver, Daisy and Chloe waved bye and ran out the door, almost crashing into a food platter. Rose and Samuel followed more slowly. I noticed Kelly wasn't here and I made a mental note to yell at her when I found her. The doctor rummaged around for a while then left me to my devices.

In that case,

I slept.

Fourteen hours later

Emily

I woke up, yawning. I tried to sit up, but found a particular head resting on my lap. John had dragged a chair next to my bed, but he had fallen asleep, falling sideways. I was quite happy that he had cared. As I moved his eyes opened a crack, then blinking away sleepiness instantly. He sat up quickly and I giggled as I saw his spiky black hair was flat on one side. He gave me a withering look.

"Your hair. NOT you."

I slid out of bed, my feet landing on the smooth white floor. Someone had taken my dirty sneakers off for me. I alleviated my wedgie caused by my jeans and walked around the base of the bed, intending to help John fix up his bedhair. I reached up, but he straightened his back and leaned away.

"Oi! Im trying to help!"

John blinked innocently, but slightly sarcastically. I resisted the urge to punch him.

"Master Chief Petty Officer, John-117 if you don't bend down this-"

"Or what?" he interrupted, finishing the familiar threat.

I scowled at him.

"This is what."

I pinched him as hard as I could on his arm, through his long sleeved grey shirt. He didn't even twitch. He blinked at me curiously.

"Are you doing something?" he asked.

I growled.

"Fine. Walk around with a flat head then."

I sighed. It was lonely with no-one to talk to in the medroom. John's eyes grew concerned.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"It's just so lonely in here. Chloe and Oliver and Daisy are probably off somewhere, trashing Lasky's office or something."

I grinned as I imaged them frolicking about in a room, throwing papers everywhere and Thomas yelling at them, his face beet red. John shifted, glancing at the door, his blue eyes uncertain.

"I cannot stay here all day."

"I know. Go off, then. I'll go explore."

To my dismay, he shook his head.

"The doctors say you are still concussed."

I snorted, tossing my hand dismissively.

"I'm fine."

He turned away from the door.

"No. You will stay here. I will not be pleased if you disregard my wishes."

I sighed.

"Okay….Then. Go off and romp in sunshiny meadows then."

He raised an eyebrow, and walked out the door.

Two hours later

Emily

"So…..bored." I groaned for the hundredth time.

I face planted into the pillow on my bed. A familiar voice sounded amused behind me.

"Sorry for the…..Somewhat lopsided accident."

"Thomas!"

I sprang up, running to the door. I skidded to a stop uncertainly. I was quite good friends with Lasky, but I didn't know if he want me to hug him. He looked surprised.

"What are you waiting for?"

I grinned and wrapped my arms around him. He smelt like cinnamon and ginger, strange. The Commander was soft and warm, not hard like John. I stepped back.

"It's okay. Have you come to relieve my boredom?"

"That wasn't my first intent….But I suppose I could, I'm off duty for three hours. I'd enjoy spending some time with you."

"Thank you. Where are my friends by the way?"

"Oh, John is off leading them around on a big tour." he said dismissively.

I grinned evilly.

"At least they don't get any fun."

Lasky smiled, but it faded quickly.

"Emily, I came here to ask you about this strange light. I know you don't know anything about it…But I know someone who could help with that."

"Who?" I prodded for more.

"Doctor Catherine Halsey."

_John_

_The five year old Daisy whined for the hundredth time._

"_My legs are tired!"_

_I wanted to glue her mouth shut._

_But I resisted. I kept walking straight ahead, letting no trace of my irritation show._

"_Daisy c'mon. Just go with it." Oliver said, annoyed._

"_I would, but daddy's already carried me, so has mum and they're both tired!" she complained._

_I gritted my teeth with annoyance. My amplified hearing boosted her whining tones._

"_Will you carry me Oliver?"_

_Chloe groaned._

_Right. That was enough._

_I halted, whipping around._

"_No. He won't. I am getting sick of your whining, I will." I snarled._

_She had exhausted my patience, something rare. I leapt forward and put my hands under her arms, hoisting Daisy over my shoulder. I turned and continued my angry, long strides._

"_Whee! Dad! Look!" she yelled._

_I breathed in sharply. Yelling next to me was one thing, but right next to my ear was another. I halted on the smooth metal floor, Chloe walking to the side and around in front of me, continuing her walk. She was annoyed too. I took a deep breath and waited for Daisy's parents to intervene. Thankfully they did, Samuel remembering my excellent hearing from when they arrived._

"_Daisy, shush. Remember when you yelled at him before? His poor ears." Samuel chastised. I continued my quick, angry march. I heard whispering behind me and I, of course, heard them perfectly. The family had seemed to doubt my hearing._

"_Oliver, I don't want you going near him. He's too unstable, dangerous. You know that the Spartan IIs were…um…."_

_He lowered his voice more. It didn't serve any purpose; I waited patiently for what I knew was going to happen next._

"_Slightly sociopathic."_

_I silently fumed. I was sick of all this talk. I was a human too, wasn't I? Why can't people ever see the big picture, not judge by the little one? Oliver exclaimed angrily._

"_Dad! He's not that bad and he's my friend! Emily likes him too!"_

"_Do as your father says, Oliver." Rose threatened._

_Daisy didn't say anything, she probably didn't hear. She saw them talking though. She whispered in my ear._

"_What are they saying?"_

"_You wouldn't understand." I replied angrily._

"_No, really. Tell me."_

"_They are calling me crazy, dangerous….unstable. And I know I may seem like it but I am not."_

_Daisy stayed silent. I could sense her dismay, though._

"_Just stay away Oliver. Stay with Emily. She'll keep you safe."_

_I finally broke, halting suddenly. I heard their scraping footsteps on the metal floor as they slid to a stop. I whirled around, setting down Daisy. She sensed my anger and stepped back._

"_I am not unstable. I am sane. I do not believe I am to blame for my personality. I cannot help that I killed, murdered, massacred for more than half my life. I apologize if you dislike me. But I will not put up with this. Do you know how hard it is, even _without_ you, exposing the point, to be so different?"_

_Even though I was angry, I said my words calmly. The quietness of them spoke volumes. Quiet meant angry. Dangerous. I whirled around, continuing my march back to Emily's medroom._

_The family said nothing more._

Emily

"She made the Spartan IIs…. Halsey, didn't she? I didn't even know she was on the Infinity…..In the Halo games, the storyline seems different. John isn't even on the Infinity!"

"Yes, she is on the Infinity, but in the high level security cells. As for the storyline…..Well I don't know. Maybe the reality is different? As for Catherine….only I am permitted to go in or out, but I would be willing to go in with you."

"But how will we get her to tell us anything? She's pretty much a female Einstein."

"Catherine likes to bargain. She will trade information for information. She's also stubborn, like you. If we keep your mystique, we can use it against her. She'll want to know who you are. Then, we've got her."

I grinned.

"We are evil, plotting like this."

Lasky's brown eyes squinted evilly.

"Agreed? We have to hurry, I've only got two hours left."

"Agreed. Lets go!"

Ten minutes later

Emily

Commander Thomas Lasky halted at the checkpoint, a marine in that dumb ceramic armour stopping him.

"State your business. You are attempting to enter a restricted area."

Thomas's eyes flashed with annoyance.

"Don't be a silly duck; can't you see I'm the Commander?"

"O…of course sir. Go right in."

He turned and pressed a something behind him, the heavy metal door sliding quietly across. Lasky strode in, and I followed. He walked down a long, bleak corridor. Blue light crossed the entrances to cells, which only held a metal slab. It was probably where I was put when I first came here. I laughed inwardly when I thought of how silly it would be to put a child in here. Thomas halted suddenly and I almost smacked into him. He turned and regarded me with a raised eyebrow. I scowled at him and he turned back to the hard light covering the cell entry.

"Doctor Catherine Halsey. I've brought someone to talk to you."

The marine standing guard deactivated the barrier and Lasky strode in. The imposing sounding Catherine was really little more than an old woman. Grey hair and for some reason, grey eyes. A grey eyebrow was raised when I entered. She wasn't kind looking like my granny.

"A child, Lasky? You've become more delusional than ever."

Thomas's personality changed completely.

"You should be more interested in someone so close to Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. He was your favourite, correct?"

Catherine got up, turning her back on Lasky. She looked out the window in the wall, at the numerous stars.

"I suppose you could say that. But why would a _child_ be interested in me? And more importantly…..Why would John be interested in a child?" Halsey scoffed, with a soft American accent.

I tossed my head imperiously.

"Yep. That's right. He's my friend. And more importantly, I'm here to ask you about lights that transport you through space and time."

She turned back to me, an eyebrow raised.

"What planet are you from? A dirty, scummy, slummy one I suppose?"

"First, you tell me what I want to know. Then I'll tell you where I'm from."

Catherine smiled slyly.

"I see."

_John_

_She's not here!" exclaimed Chloe._

_Oliver snorted._

"_That's pretty obvious."_

_I ignored the bickering children, instead spotting a note left on the pillow. I strode over, plucking it from its resting place. I opened the white paper carefully, noting how neatly it was folded. Lasky's work, he had a habit of doing that. I recognized Thomas's hurried scrawl._

_Gone to high level security. Asking Doctor Catherine Halsey about the light. Left half an hour ago, if you came back on time. Tell Sarah if you can that I may be late back on duty. Do not come and get me._

_-Lasky and Emily. _

_I thought for a moment. Yes, it was logical to ask Halsey…..But she would, of course have a plan up her sleeve, I knew her too well. She was too intelligent to not create some kind of trap for Emily and Thomas. I would have to make sure they were alright afterwards._

"_So what are we going to do?" asked Rose._

"_Nothing." said a voice from behind me._

_I whirled around, hearing the unmistakable click of a gun safety being turned off. I was too slow this time, the pistol already pointing at me. I studied the man holding it carefully. He had blonde hair and brown eyes, and he seemed uncertain if he was to shoot me or not. He was a Spartan IV; I could tell by the way he was standing in a trained posture. I looked into his eyes, telling him that I could, and would, kill him if he gave me a chance. Oliver hid behind my legs and Chloe backed away slowly, Rose and Samuel put their hands up, shoving Daisy behind them. I didn't move an inch. The Spartan shrugged. He lifted his hand, signalling, and two more appeared, deactivating their camouflage._

"_Dis-arm yourself." he commanded._

_I regarded the situation with contempt. He was only a Petty Officer First Class. I outranked him by two. I did as I was told, though. He could hurt the children. I pulled out my pistol, barrel down and tossed it at his feet, doing the same with my knife. I continued to fix him with an icy stare, unnerving him._

"_Stick them all with the sedative. Give Chief a particularly large dose. I'm sick of him glaring at me."_

_One Spartan moved to inject the children and adults, producing a large needle. One moved toward me as well. I switched my glare onto him. He flinched back instinctively, his green eyes wary. I felt like trying to attack them. But the leader still had his pistol trained on me. I wasn't afraid of dying, but I knew that if we were captured I would be our only chance of escaping. I let the IV move closer and he quickly stuck the needle in my arm. I instantly felt woozy and I collapsed onto my knees. I was asleep before I hit the floor. The last thing I thought was_

"_Traitors."_

At the same time

Emily

I raised an eyebrow.

"What do you want then?" I asked.

Catherine smiled slyly.

"I already have what I want."

The hard light barrier behind us deactivated and two marines marched in, clipping light cuffs onto Lasky's wrists. They hummed quietly, and the marines restrained Thomas, restricting his movements as he frantically tried to free himself.

"What? Hey! Stand down! Why won't you listen? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing is. They are just under my control." bragged Halsey.

She pulled a remote out of her pocket, waving it at us. I glanced at the marines and noticed they had a black box on their neck. Probably mind control. I finally managed to recover from my shock, realising my hands were not cuffed.

"Run!" Lasky cried.

"Get Sarah!"

I did as I was bid, dodging under the marine's armoured arms, and hurling myself out the entrance. I charged headlong down the corridor, ignoring the marines, the Spartans, and I lost myself finally in the twists and turns of the Infinity. I padded quietly along a corridor, the metal walls rough and grey. I heard a soft "Thunk" from behind me and I froze, ducking into a corner.

"Emily. It's me." Sarah Palmer's voice whispered from the spot where the noise had come from. I ran out, halting in front of her. She didn't have her armour on, only her thick black undersuit.

"What the hell has happened?" she exclaimed.

"Doctor Halsey….She had some kind of mind control. Don't know. She got Lasky…."

She slapped a palm on her forehead. I regarded the movement, amused. Sarah "Palmer". I shook myself from my thoughts. Keep on track. On the situation.

"John? Kelly? Fred? Linda?" I asked her.

"Roland is still active. He says they are under her control, too, the little bastard. Roland is hiding though, Catherine is chasing him all over the ship with her own A.I. Don't know how she got It." she growled.

I groaned quietly. Roland, the ship's A.I., was our greatest asset. I recalled what Roland's hologram looked like, a WWII RAF pilot.

"What are we gonna do? We can't exactly rescue them! Probably half the ships seventeen thousand crew is under Halsey's control." I noted.

"Well, then think! I may be a Spartan IV, but I'm no super intelligent II!"

I racked my brain. No. No, no and still NO! Wait! Hang on….

"We could pretend to be under her control, get close to someone, and get rid of those black boxes she's controlling them with."

"It could work. But remember, the sheer amount of them would notice and Wham! You have a black box slapped onto you."

"On the other hand, we could just find Halsey, pretend to be controlled, get close to her, and get the remote she has in her pocket, and beat the crap out of anyone who tries to stop us."

"That's better. I feel like a good scrap. Let's do it." she grinned.

Twenty minutes later

Emily

I walked dumbly along, copying the marine in front of me. There was a long chain heading to a doorway, which I was pretty sure where Halsey was. I thought she would be checking on all her minions, checking to see if they were fit and properly mindless. I heard Sarah shuffling along behind me. We drew closer and closer still to the entrance. All of a sudden, the marine in front of me strode quietly inside, and I froze. One at a time, they went. I checked that I had a dumb expression on my face. The marine emerged again, a few minutes later. I walked inside, staring blankly straight ahead. I saw Catherine out of the corner of my eye, and I looked hopefully about for my friends and John. They might be here after all. I spotted Oliver out of my right eye and I desperately resisted the urge to look at him. Catherine appeared in front of me.

"Well well. Looks like someone brought a dirty _rat_ in."

I battled the urge to slap her smirking, sly face. She pulled my collar away from my neck and she smiled.

"Should have known. Sneaky, sneaky. But you don't fool me that easy."

I ran away from her, to Oliver. I could see Chloe, Rose, Daisy and Samuel all tied up on chairs as I rounded the corner.

"Emily! You made it! But…No! Run! Get out of here!" Chloe screamed.

"W…Why?"

She looked behind me.

"That's why."

I whirled around to find Sarah pinned to the ground by John. I saw the black box on his neck and I gasped. I could not remove that. He would kill me, and he wouldn't even know it. He fastened his hand around Palmer's throat and she thrashed, trying to throw him off. It didn't work and John simply squeezed harder. She fell still. He straightened, stepping over Palmer. I didn't know if she was dead, or simply unconscious. His head turned and his gaze fixed on me. His face was completely blank, not even his eyes had that coldness, that incredible amount of intelligence. Catherine flicked her hand at me, turning back to a display behind her.

"Kill her."

John strode towards me without hesitation and I backed away, into the wall. I slid down it, watching the formidable Spartan. He towered over me, reaching down, probably to break my neck. My friends screamed. I stayed calm. Maybe, just maybe, I could break through that control on his mind.

"John….Stop. Please. You don't want to kill me, I'm your friend. Emily, remember?"

He blinked, confused. But he continued, his hand retreating and reaching for the pistol at his hip. He whipped it out. But I ignored the fact. I knew that if he killed me, he would kill my friends. I stood slowly, raising my hands, looking straight into the barrel. I reached out slowly, closing my eyes. I touched the handle of the gun, and I slid my hand up, fastening it around John's hand. The muscles stiffened, and I shrunk back. But the shot didn't come. I looked up and opened my eyes. I stared straight into John's, blank eyes. He was cocking his head to the side, curious. His pupils narrowed and I realised he was fighting a battle. A mental battle. The black box at his neck sparked a little, and Catherine whirled around.

"What? How!"

John didn't react, even though she pressed buttons on her remote frantically.

"It's okay, John. Let go of the gun. You don't want to kill me."

His pupils recovered back to their usual size.

"You are correct. I do not want to kill you." He stuttered out.

The black box simply exploded as he managed to choke out the sentence. Halsey screamed.

"NO! No…nonono! How!"

John whipped around. I hid behind him, looking out.

"I still have your Spartans, John."

Kelly-087, Frederic-104 and Linda-058 slipped stealthily out from the shadows caused by the roof. They had probably been there the whole time, and I hadn't seen them.

_John_

_I watched my squadmates carefully, circling around them. Their eyes were blank, and they showed no sign that they recognised me. I was simply a target, an objective._

"_As much as I hate to pit my own Spartans against each other…" Halsey sighed, her regret true._

_She pressed a button on her remote and Kelly leapt toward me, like lightning. She was fast, faster than me. However, we were both Spartans so she seemed to move in slow motion, my enhancements causing me to process everything quickly. I dodged nimbly to the side, and as soon as I had done so, Kelly was already facing me. I whirled around in time to stop her punch, deflecting it with my arm. I felt a dull ache in my arm as my metal coated bones put up with the force. Kelly's strategies didn't seem to be present, in that mindless state as she was; she took me head on in an all-out strength fight. I was a lot stronger, but Kelly was quicker. She slipped, momentarily losing her balance. I took advantage and leapt forward, catlike. I delivered a solid blow to her head and she slumped to the ground, unconscious. I turned back to Halsey. I was barely puffed. Catherine pressed the button again and Fred charged at me. This would be a lot harder. Fred was slightly stronger, but I was faster. I gasped as his fist drove into my stomach. I couldn't dodge that one; he would simply kick my legs out from under me if I did. I retaliated, slamming my fist into his ribs. He staggered back, and I leapt forward, knocking him out with a solid punch to his head. He fell backwards, limply. The fight could have gone on for ages, but Fred was dumb, and numb in his state. The black box on his neck disintegrated. _Now_ I was tired. Moving that fast put strain on my body, and having reflexes so fast needed a lot of energy. I braced myself for my next opponent, Linda. I would win easily. She didn't seem to be armed. I was, but I didn't want to shoot my squadmates. I inhaled, surprised, as I dodged her first punch, but she drew a long electrified pole from her pocket, extending it. Linda poked it into my ribs and I felt my brain shut down. I slid to the floor. I finally gave up the struggle for consciousness._

Emily

I winced as John slid to the ground. I was on my own now. My friends were tied up, Palmer was unconscious and I had no idea where Lasky was. I ran past Linda, before Halsey could give her orders. I ran towards the old woman, grabbing for the remote. I was _angry_, and it felt good. She blocked me with her arm, and I kicked her shins. She retaliated, before I could react, slamming a fist into my head. I saw stars, and I staggered backwards.

"Emily!" cried a familiar voice.

I tried to think of who it was, through my hazy thoughts. I saw a familiar shape, wearing a coat with large lapels and shiny buttons. I shook myself. My mind cleared and I saw Lasky, struggling with Catherine. Thomas was military trained, and intelligent, a tactical genius. But he wasn't prepared for the six foot Spartan charging at him. Linda-058 slammed her fist into his side, and I could hear his ribs snap from across the room. He cried out, a terrible shout of pain. Lasky flew at least six meters, slamming into the wall on the other side of the room. He slid, slowly to the ground. He didn't move, didn't make a sound. My eyes began to well up with tears. He was probably dead, that impact would have shattered his ribs, and possibly ruptured his organs. Linda whirled around, facing me. I retreated, knowing that I was defeated. I felt a big tear roll down my cheek. I would die, killed unknowingly by my friend. I decided I would face my death with dignity. Better to die bravely than die a blubbering, cowering idiot. I probably should try to remove the black box. I leapt forward, reaching, grabbing. Linda's hand shot out, and before I had even processed this, it was on my throat, choking me, stopping me. But in her dumb state, she seemed to forget that I had arms, so I reached out, towards the box on her neck. The edges of my vision turned black, and I felt my mind relax strangely. It would be so good, just to fall asleep…..to let it all go. No…NO! Not yet! I grabbed the box weakly, pulling it with all my strength. It came loose, and I felt the hand slacken. It released me completely, and I fell to the floor gasping. I heard a muted Thump! and I realised that Linda had collapsed beside me. I stood slowly, my eyesight restoring itself. My knees wobbled uncertainly and I became aware of my friends cheering.

"Go get her Em!"

"Yeah! Kick butt!"

I looked about, for Catherine, and spotted her, her mouth dropped open in shock.

"How…You…What?"

I looked down at Linda. She probably had a brain overload or something, I didn't _care_, I was _angry_, she had taken my friends prisoner, probably killed Lasky, and her plan had probably killed Sarah too, she hadn't moved. I ran, full pelt, with my fury lending my muscles strength. I hit her like a cannonball, tackling her. The remote flew from her hand, and I caught it. I stood, placing it on the floor. I raised my foot.

And I crushed it.

"Don't you _ever _hurt my friends!" I screamed.

I ranted and screeched, didn't care what I was yelling at the figure on the floor, didn't care! Except something broke through my haze of thoughts. A moan, a painful, horrible one. I shut my mouth, turning to look to where I knew Lasky had landed. His brown eyes were screwed shut, his fists white. I gasped in surprise and scrambled over, kneeling at his side. I reached out and touched his side, gently. I winced as I could feel the outline of the bone through his coat. He looked up at me, his eyes strangely calm. I collapsed, crying, onto him, hugging him.

"Please…..No…." I whispered.

I could feel him trying to reply, willing his rapidly failing body to speak.

"D….Doo…N't... …Yo…ur…self…" he gasped out.

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling everything melt away. I couldn't see anything, hear anything. I was vaguely aware of the passage of time, hours maybe. Days. I didn't know. All I knew was warmness…A shifting feeling, then nothing.

_Four days later_

_John_

_I sat vigil next to her bed, as usual. Watching. Waiting. Nothing. I felt disappointed. Emily had been in a shocked coma for four days. I had woken up just as the doctors had arrived. They had watched the security camera footage when the remote had been destroyed, viewing it live through the screen. They had rushed to the room, finding Emily slumped over a dying Thomas. And thank god she had. Her weight had compressed a source of internal bleeding, essentially saving the Commander's life. He was still recovering, but he was awake and alert. His ribs were shattered, but they were healing nicely. Every day, he pestered me to give him updates, but every time, it was a simple _

"_Nothing." I said out loud._

_The one word, so simple, triggered a shift from the still child lying slack on the bed's crisp white sheets._

"_Meerrpf…Lasky….Halsey….Remote….Have to…er….Ar….Ar." she mumbled._

_Her blue eyes opened slowly. They seemed confused, but they fixed on my face and they glowed with recognition._

"_John….? What the heck happened?" she asked slowly, as if she was making sure she was still alive._

"_It's over. Halsey has been put in isolation on a prison planet."_

"_Thomas….Is he….is…" she asked suggestively. _

_I nodded once._

"_I wanna see him. Now!" she demanded._

"_He is resting, asleep. He needs it." I lied._

_Emily scowled at me, as if she knew I was._

"_When?"_

_I let myself smile slightly. _

"_Don't you grin at me!"_

One Day Later

Emily

I walked uncertainly down the hospital corridor, testing to make sure my legs were still working. John held me up slightly. I wanted to see Lasky, wanted to see my friends, wanted to go home. Home, I thought, was a long way away. I missed my warm bed, my books, my computer games, but most of all, I missed the safety. John pulled my arm slightly, signalling to another medroom. I followed him inside. I saw Thomas, propped up with pillows, his eyes bright. I grinned.

"Hey, Emily. Are you alright?" he asked.

I ran over to the side of his bed.

"Yeah! You? You look like your about to fall apart."

"I'll recover. I hope that remark wasn't anything to do with my age!"

John coughed from outside the door, but I knew he was hiding a slight snigger.

"Oh shutup you!"

I heard an unintelligible sound and I put it down as laughter.

"I hope Sarah is alright?"

"Yeah, she's okay. She's bossing everyone around while you're hurt. I think she's enjoying it too."

Lasky seemed satisfied. He sat back.

"Now there's the problem of your friends."

I frowned.

"Eh?"

"John tells me Chloe, Oliver, and Daisy are trashing the place. I was wondering if you could possibly….stop them?"

I grinned wolfishly.

"I think I should join them, this time, scaling it up a notch. I think I'll go toilet paper all your dropships."

Lasky smiled. I gave him a big hug.

"You saved my life."

I frowned once again.

"How?"

"When you collapsed on me, you cut off internal bleeding. You saved me. Thank you."

I stepped back.

"I don't want any awards….."

"I wasn't planning to give you any. I think the greatest reward for you is the fact that I think you are a hero. Thank you." he said once again.

"Thanks. Um…How am I going to get back to my world? I don't mean offense….but I miss it."

"Luckily, that's already solved. The light is waiting for you, right now. This time, it's calling. It's saying something."

"What?"

"Emily."

Three days later

Emily

I sat on my bed, thinking. I had no idea what was happening to my life, but I knew it was a miracle. Saying goodbye had been the hardest thing, knowing that I mightn't ever come back, ever see them again. But eventually, I knew, all good things do come to an end. You just need to learn to embrace the fact and live in harmony with it.


	5. Work in progress

The Fifth Installment

Summary:

The duo meet up again in the strangest of ways, and John and Emily are again thrown into trouble when they reach an alien world, property of an ancient evil. The light continues to put them into danger, and the story ends with a fight which will save humanity- or kill them.


End file.
